Another Day Rolled Another Night Rocked
by aequusnoxdiem
Summary: Edward is a rockstar in a very popular band on tour. He's lost the joy he used to find in his art. This is the story of how meeting Bella turned his life around. Winner of Avant Garde Award's "What Rocks My World" contest - 1st Place Public Vote.
1. Chapter 1  Another Day Rolled

1. Another Day Rolled

Some days, it really didn't pay to roll outta the bunk in the morning.

Sitting here in this smokey, dimly lit bar, nursing my third whiskey of the night, the truth of those words were never more apparent than they were right now. All I really wanted to do was to slink back to my newly rented hotel room, climb into the strange bed, pull the covers over my head, and slip away into the hopefully dreamless oblivion of sleep..

Ugh.

Could the day have gotten any more screwed up? I didn't think so.

Irritated, I pushed my hand through my hair and rubbed it down my face before allowing it to fall back down to the table to cradle the rock glass holding the latest two fingers of whiskey.

I should've made it three fingers. Or four. Hell... I probably should've just bought the damn bottle of Beam.

Although it was the last thing I wanted to be thinking about, my mind insisted on wandering back over the events of the day, trying to figure out what had finally brought me to my breaking point.

The day just started badly. I knew it the second I hit my head on the low upper edge of my bunk on the bus that it was going to be a shit-tastic day. How long _had_ I been sleeping on this damn bus, anyway? The half million dollar Viper Coach we affectionately (cough) named "Eileen" had practically been my home for at least the last year of this tour. Why now was I suddenly hitting my head on my bunk? Claustrophobic damn thing. I felt like I was in a space pod.

A very small one.

You'd think, for all the money that we paid for the damn things, Prevost could afford to make the beds bigger. I was the "Rock Star", after all. Shit.

Muttering curses as I stood, rubbing my head, it didn't help my mood any to hear Jasper chuckling from behind the closed curtain of his bunk, located directly across from mine.

"What the hell are you laughing at, dickhead?" I snapped at him, still rubbing the sore spot on my scalp. Yeah. There was going to be a lump. Shit. Shit.

"You, idiot," Jasper shot back, laughter still in his voice. "How long have you been sleeping in that bunk?" He cackled as he pulled his curtain back to grin at me. "You just about rattled me outta bed with that one." I flipped him off. He winked at me. "How bad did you splinter the wood on the bunk, Eddie? I know you didn't hurt that block head of yours."

I scowled at him and yanked his curtain closed again. "Shut up. It's not like you've never hit your damn head in these stupid ass coffins we sleep in every damn night." Behind the curtain, I heard him snicker. From the bunk underneath Jasper, I heard Emmett snoring - still deeply asleep, even though it was just after two in the afternoon.

Ah, the life of a rock star.

We'd just pulled into the last city... Nashville, Tennessee... for our last tour date for the next five days.

Five days. It was like winning the lottery.

Running both hands through my sleep flattened hair, I wandered towards the back of the bus to use the john. Standing there, still half asleep, I wondered yet again why I continued to do this night after night. Somewhere along the way, I had lost the joy I used to find in it.

I wasn't exactly sure when my outlook on my career started to change. Writing songs, singing, and playing music was all I ever wanted to do... ever since I was a kid. I could remember using a spoon for a microphone and singing along with the radio, entertaining my parents by putting on a show in the living room after dinner. I might have been about seven or eight years old at that time. That was possibly my earliest memory of wanting to be a singer.

I'd grown up of course, kept my love of music and performing, and found a few buddies in high school who had the same dream I did, and we started a band, practicing at night in our parents garages. They were both still with me now, and it was by God's own grace that we'd never killed each other.

Killing one of them this morning had very nearly happened... the smart ass. But, that was just how Jasper had always been, and how I expected he would always be. At least he kept life on the road interesting.

It had been the typical "rock star rise to fame" I'm sure that has been told many times over by every musical 'celebrity' that had ever made it big. We played a gig one night in a club that a producer just happened to be having a drink in, he heard us, liked what he heard, and set up a meeting. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fame came quickly to our little trio. Our music was new and fresh, with songs written that spawned from true life, and the people loved it. We were high energy on stage, with a reputation for engaging the crowd with sing alongs and funny to sexy improvised songs made up on the spot, and for being easily accessible to our fans, we were an instant hit with the people who were looking for something different from their normal music. We'd been on tour now, state to state, for just under a year, and were living the dream that we'd had all our lives - me especially.

Now suddenly, here I was, questioning everything I had ever wanted to be, and everything I had ever done with my life.

Finished in the john, I washed my hands and wandered back to my closet area to pull out some clothes. We had a few hours before we had to be at the venue to load in, and I wanted to go and get some grub and stretch my legs some before the repetition of the last few nights began again.

Walking back through the bunk hall, I noticed that Emmett's bunk curtain was pulled back, and he was propped up on one elbow, rubbing his eyes. He looked up and gave me a sleepy grin as I walked by to get into my assigned closet for some clothes. I grinned back at him, in awe, as I always was, at how he managed to sleep in that bunk, as crammed in there as he was. They seemed entirely too small to me, and I was fully half his size. At six foot five inches tall, weighing in at two hundred and sixty pounds, Emmett was a beast.

"I'm going to get some grub. You want anything, Em?" I offered. Knowing his appetite, he had to be starving. It'd been at least four hours since he'd eaten last. He yawned hugely, still rubbing his eyes. I was surprised when he shook his head.

"Naw, man. My stomach is still a little messed up from all that shit we drank last night. I think I'm gonna go easy on it this morning... at least for a little for awhile yet." He patted his stomach, grimacing. I chuckled.

"Em, it's after two in the afternoon."

Surprised widened his eyes momentarily and he glanced down at his watch. "The fuc-... Hell, Eddie. Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"You're a rock star. You deserved to sleep late after the way you wowed that crowd last night." I winked at him. "I can't have my star axe slinger too tired to put it out there for the ladies tonight. You had them on their knees at the last venue... totally made them beg for for more!"

"You're damn right I did." His blue eyes sparkled as he grinned. He knew exactly what effect he had on the women in the crowd every night. I laughed and gave him a high five.

Jasper called out from behind his curtain, "Bring me a bag of Dorito's and a Pepsi, would ya?"

"Sure. Give me money."

"Edward! You were just gonna bring something back to Emmett! What the hell man?' He complained, yanking back his bunk curtain, and glaring at me. Oh shit. Why did that boy insist on sleeping naked in a bus full of guys?

"I like him better than you." I smacked him on the forehead. "Besides, who was laughing at me for hitting my head on the bunk earlier, asshole?" I said as I yanked his curtain closed again. "That's what you get for being a jerk. And put some clothes on, you perv."

I left Emmett laughing his ass off, and Jasper muttering to himself something about if I 'didn't like to see him naked, then I shouldn't look', and walked out of the bus on my way to get some food.

The rest of the day passed in typical fashion for a band on the road; load our gear into the venue, get set up, do a preliminary sound check, meet with the crew from the venue, security meetings, and then we had a few hours to hide in the bus before the show started. Since we had all been up until the wee hours of the morning the night before partying with our opening act in the last venue we played, all three of us decided that it would be prudent for us to just head on back and take naps before this evenings coming gig. I gingerly crawled into my bunk, taking greater care than normal not to hit my head, and crashed.


	2. Chapter 2 Get A Grip

2. Get A Grip

Blinking slowly, I realized that I had lost myself to the memories of events that had happened earlier in the day, and looked up to regain my bearings. Ah yes. I recalled where I was now. Smokey Bar. Dim lighting. Soft Blues music playing the background. Good Looking woman sitting two tables over -

What the-? I blinked again, this time in shock.

When had _she_ shown up?

Blinking even harder now, trying to confirm to myself that she wasn't the mirage that my cloudy brain seemed to think she was, I also tried very hard not to stare. She was possibly the most beautiful woman I had seen in a long, long time... and considering what I did for a living, with beautiful (and not so beautiful) women throwing themselves at me nightly, that was saying something.

Wow.

She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties, darker brown hair, skin so light and pale it was almost translucent. I couldn't see her eye color, but I guessed from the darkness of her eyes, they were most likely brown. Incredible.

Engrossed in a book, and sipping on some dark red wine, she hadn't noticed my attention yet. I was suddenly self conscious, looking quickly down at the glass in my hands, allowing my hair to fall forward and partially cover my eyes. Lord, I needed a hair cut. But, it worked for now, because it allowed me to view this vision of loveliness sitting across the room without her being aware of it.

Jesus, I sounded like a stalker.

Get a grip, Edward, I sternly told myself. It's not like you have never seen a pretty girl before.

Looking more closely at her, I realized she was much more than pretty. She was in fact gorgeous. I was right in my earlier quick summation of her looks. Damn. I wanted to talk to her. I discovered that I was tongue tied, without ever having said a word to her. I was never tongue tied. I usually had more game than a pro hockey team. What the hell was wrong with me?

I sat there for a full twenty-five minutes just watching her sip her wine and turn the pages in her book, never once looking up, or becoming aware of the intensity I watched her with. That was probably a good thing. She probably would have screamed for security.

I wanted to talk to her. But how? She didn't look like the type of girl that a guy just walked up on in a bar, or Jazz a club for that matter, and threw some slick lines on. Oh no. She was much more than that.

I was sitting there, mulling over how I wanted to attempt to make contact with her, when I noticed two younger girls, barely old enough to even be in this club, sitting a few tables down whispering excitedly behind their hands, their eyes bright with excitement and staring in my direction. One of them sported a shirt with my face on it.

Fan girls. Oh lovely.

Then I sighed, realizing where they had most likely been to get that shirt. The show tonight. I sighed heavily. What a disaster that had been.

Well, to be fair, the gig went fine. Just my emotional state went all to hell... right in the middle of it.

I swear, I had been so freaking emotional lately, I was going to turn into a woman.

I had forced my way through it, of course, because it was my job, but the instant it was over, and I had made my final bow, I walked off the stage, completely ignoring the calls from the audience for an encore, and slapping Jasper's hand aside and snarling wordlessly at him when he had tried to stop me from walking off the stage.

A woman, I'm telling you.

I had been teetering on the edge of a rotten mood all day... ever since I'd smacked my head on my bunk. Then, throughout the day, I just couldn't stop my mind from wandering over all the reasons that I just didn't want to be doing it anymore, and if I wasn't still doing it, I wouldn't have hit my head on the damn bunk that morning, and on and on like that. I tried to push it all aside, tell myself I was doing what I loved, and I should be thankful for that, but all day long, throughout set up, sound check and the meetings, I couldn't escape the sudden hatred I felt for the art I used to love.

It came to a head during the middle of the show. I had just started singing my signature song, the one that had me popular personally, (we all had one that made the girls go crazy...) and several girls screamed out, "Oh my God! Edward! You're so hot!" and just kept screaming it over and over again. It happened at every show, and most of the time, I was able to tune them out, but this time, I couldn't.

_For fuck's sake,_ I remembered thinking at the time, _Who gives a shit if I'm hot or not. Just listen to the damn song!_

Something inside me snapped. I managed to gut out the rest of the song, and close my ears to those silly, screaming females, and go to a different place in my mind to get through the show.

When it was finally over, and Emmett was quickly tuning up his guitar backstage for our encore, I stalked off the stage, handed my bass guitar to Carlisle, our road manager, said, "That's it. I'm done." and walked out of the venue through the back door to the alley. He'd called me a few minutes later, talked to me until I had calmed down, and told me to just get some distance and relax for a few days, since our next gig wasn't until the following week, and to call him later on in the week.

And so I had. I'd left the venue, walked back to the bus, snatched up some clothes and rented a hotel room nearby. Once I'd dumped my clothes off in the room, I'd wandered down the main street in town looking for something, anything, to take my mind off my troubles.

Now, here I was, in a smokey Blues club, eye to eye with probably the same girls that had caused my mental snap on stage earlier. Fan-fucking-tabulous.

To their eternal credit, however, they had not just walked up to me and demanded an autograph or a photo or made a scene. In fact, I had no idea how long they had been sitting there before I took note of their interest. That right there was a shocker. Normally, all of my alert signals were ringing in my head the second someone realized who I was. These gals had been very abnormally respectful of my privacy, and the fact that I was not on stage. They were merely observing me from a distance, and seemed completely content with that.

There was no way they were the same ones from the concert. Thank you God.

Well, it was part of the job I'd chosen for myself, and whatever else had changed lately, my skill with the fans hadn't. Besides, they should be rewarded for their good behavior here tonight, which I appreciated more than they would ever know.

And, besides... who knew? Maybe it would get the brunette's attention without me having to make the first move... something that for some odd reason I seemed totally unable to make on my own. Taking a deep and steadying breath, I internally zipped on my "Edward the Entertainer" suit, smiled at the girls, and winked.

Instantly, a volley of high pitched giggles erupted from the little redhead, while the blonde's eyes merely bugged out of her head and she clapped a surprised hand over her mouth. I silently chuckled to myself, knowing that attention from me was the last thing they ever expected. It was yet another clue that meant they weren't not going to bother me on their own, just observe me from a distance. It actually went a little ways towards improving my mood.

Inclining my head somewhat, I reached up and shoved my hair back out of my face, and sat up straighter, bringing up and crooking one finger in a 'come on over here' motion. Almost in shock and completely in unison, they stood up together and huddled up, arms wrapped around each other and shuffled my direction. They looked completely terrified, and it made me chuckle. My smile, accompanied with the soft sound of my laughter was enough to give them confidence enough to make their way to my table. As they approached, I couldn't help but check out the brunette to see if she had noticed their attention of me.

She was still absorbed in her book, taking a slow sip of wine. Damn. Watching her tongue slide out of her mouth to capture the bit of moisture on her lip left behind by the wine was the sexiest thing I had ever seen, and I felt my body start a familiar slow burn.

Easy, boy. Down.

Refocusing my attention on my two young admirers who had finally arrived at my table, I became immersed in their idle chatter and occasional squealing giggled comments about me, the band, and our music. I signed a few autographs for them, and even took a picture with them feeling that they deserved this small reward for their initial respect for my privacy. It honestly wasn't something that happened very often.

Finally, they were content, surprisingly unwilling to take up any more of my time, and they moved off to sit back at their own table and talk about their exciting encounter with me. I had to chuckle again and shook my head, casually glancing over towards where Miss Mysterious sat drinking her wine and reading her book.

She was gone.

What the hell!

My head whipped around and I quickly scanned the club to see if I could spot her, and came up empty. Again I looked back at her table to see if it granted me any clues. Her glass was still there, still half full of the dark red wine she'd been sipping, but her purse and the book she'd been reading was gone. She'd made her escape while I had been schmoozing it up with my fan girls. Oh didn't that just figure. This day had just gone from shitty, to really shitty in a matter of moments.

Disgusted with myself, I propped my elbows on the table and dropped my head in my hands, sighing heavily and staring into my watered down rock glass of whiskey. Well, it's what I got for being what I was.. a rock star who didn't want to be one anymore.

Finishing off my drink, I looked up to catch the bartender's attention to order another. Might as well get good and drunk tonight. It wasn't like I had anything else to do for the next five days. Harry, the bartender threw a smile my way and nodded, grabbing his bottle of Beam to pour me a fresh glass. I waited patiently as he came over to my table, bearing two glasses, one holding my new rock glass filled with ice and Beam, and the other a tall elegant glass of some deep red wine.

Furrowing my brow in confusion, I looked up at Harry as he set both glasses on the table.

"Harry, I didn't order any wine, just the whiskey." Harry just smiled at me, and then looked over my head at someone I couldn't see behind me.

"That's Okay, " a sexy, breathy voice came from over my right shoulder. "Harry knows that I ordered it."

Before I could turn my head to see the face behind the sexy voice, into my peripheral vision stepped a vision... one I hadn't expected to ever see again.

With a bemused smile sitting on her lips, my beautiful woman from across the bar, stepped up to my table, winking at Harry and handing him her credit card.

"Thanks, Harry. I'll take it from here." He took it with a wink and a grin and turned around to hustle back behind the protection of his three feet of mahogany. The vision I was pretty sure was a figment of my whiskey logged brain turned to smile at me hesitantly as I stared at her.

"Mind if I sit down?" She said, a husky note to her voice, smoothing her thick brunette hair back off her shoulder. "You look like you could use a friend."

I was suddenly aware that my mouth was hanging open, and I snapped it quickly closed as I stood up quickly and pulled out the chair next to me, gesturing for her to sit. She did, gracefully, and set her purse on the floor next to her feet before looking up to smile at me. I sank in back down into my chair, still somewhat in shock at her sudden appearance... and her interest in me.

"Or, does the rock star have enough friends?" she chuckled softly, and I felt myself flush in embarrassment. What the hell? Why was I blushing over that? I realized that I had yet to speak, and I felt like a complete idiot.

_Come on, Edward!_ I raged at myself internally. _Where's that famous game at when you need it?_

"N-n- no..." I managed to sputter. Shit. Really? What was _wrong_ with me? "No one can ever have too many friends," I took a quick breath and recovered quickly. Smiling at her, I quipped, "Even rock star's."

She smiled again and offered me her hand. "My name is Bella."

I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it quickly. "I'm Edward." I introduced myself, using my free hand to push my hair back out of my eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Bella." _Okay. I'm back in control again. I think_. I made myself grin at her as casually as I could manage.

Bella tilted her head gracefully to one side and raised her wine glass. "To new friends," she toasted. I lifted my rock glass, my mind whirling with shock that she was actually sitting here, toasting me and making small talk. Clinking the glasses softly together, she looked at me over the rim of the crystal, her brown eyes smoldering with an obvious appreciation for what she saw in front of her. I blinked stupidly back at her, and quietly sipped my whiskey.

Brown. Her eyes _were_ brown. I was right about that also. Wow.

Holy shit. Seriously. What was wrong with me? No woman befuddled me like this. No. Woman. _Get it together, Edward_. I told myself sternly, determined to listen to myself.

"So, Bella, what brings you out on an evening like this?" I asked her quietly, watching with rapt attention as she sipped her wine again before answering. Again, her tongue ran out to catch the left over moisture on her lips before she again smiled at me. Jesus.

"I was tired of sitting home alone." she answered in a matter of fact tone and shrugged slightly, the movement making the front of her dark blue blouse gap forward slightly. I discovered I was all eyes at the dip in the neckline, and quickly brought my eyes back up to hers. She smiled, knowing exactly what had briefly captured my attention. "My cat can't really keep up his side of the conversation." and she laughed, a tinkly, musical sound, and I was instantly enchanted.

"I can completely understand that," I nodded, picking up my own glass and sipping it quickly, looking for the distraction. "Neither can my band mates." I chuckled, thinking specifically of Jasper. Bella's eyes never left my face as I sipped, and I wondered what she was thinking. "I'm almost never alone, but I often feel lonely." I stated, before I even really thought about what I said.

_Where the hell did that come from? Why did I say that?_ I thought wildly. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have just clapped my hand over my face and rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Or, perhaps just pounded my head against the table. Holy shit. This woman had me completely flustered.

"I find that surprising, Edward." Bella said, tilting her head again to the side and smiling gently. Hearing my name come from her lips was Heaven. "How can a rock star be lonely?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her tone. "I'm sure that you have your choice of ... willing partners." she said, and I tensed up at the insinuation, but then I saw her eyes sparkling, and I knew she was joking around with me. I relaxed slightly.

"Well, as sad as that is, it's the truth." I affirmed, shrugging slightly. "But that doesn't mean that I take them _all_ up on it when they throw themselves at me." Her smile widened, and I knew she didn't believe me. "I'm not your usual 'rock star'." I said, chuckling myself before I sobered slightly. "And to be honest, I don't even want to be one anymore." A little crease appeared between her eyebrows.

"What?" she asked, "Why not?" confusion written on every line of her lovely face.

I ran my hand through my hair again, uncomfortable for the first time in her presence. This wasn't something I really even wanted to think about, much less talk about. I shouldn't have said anything. What was it about this woman that made me say things I didn't mean to say? I took a deep breath, contemplating silently if I really wanted to get into this, and then decided quickly that it didn't matter. Bella was a stranger, and sometimes, talking to a stranger helped me sort out the problems in my complicated life.

"I'm tired of singing songs that no one listens to." I sputtered out as quickly as possible, not meeting her eyes, and looking down into my glass. "Sure, they hear them, but they aren't really listening." I sighed quietly. "I'm not even sure that makes any sense at all."

Bella was quiet for a few moments, sipping her wine and watching my face as she thought about what I had said. I was actually glad that I had said something, feeling a small weight lifting off my shoulders having only said that much. Admitting there was a problem was the first step to recovery, after all... right?

"So, what your saying is," she said, "That your songs are meant to get a point across, and have meaning to them, not just something to mindlessly sing along with..." Bella set her glass down carefully, her eyes meeting mine as I looked up and nodded silently. "...and all they see is a pretty face, not the brain behind the words." she finished, smiling gently. I smiled grimly back at her. She nodded almost to herself. "Ah. I see."

I sat back in my seat, stretching my legs out in front of me, sighing. "I'm not even sure when it started to change. When I started losing my enjoyment of it. I just started to get more and more annoyed with all the hoopla that went along with being a celebrity. I can't just go out and sing to sing anymore. There are so many rules and regulations that go along with being a 'star'." I huffed, aware that I was ranting, but unable to stop myself. Bella sat quietly and listened. "So many things that I can, and cannot do.. so many things I can, and cannot say." I closed my eyes for a second, and just sat there, trying to quell the frustration my words brought on. "All I want to do is sing." I finished and shrugged, glancing up at her sheepishly, hoping I hadn't just totally freaked her out. To my surprise, she nodded.

"I see where your coming from. And I think I understand what you are feeling. You aren't free to be you anymore... the persona that you have had to assume is something that you've been made into being because it's what's deemed 'proper' by the people who control the world you are living in." she stated quietly, and I knew she did actually understand me and where I was coming from. That was crazy, considering my own band didn't understand where I was coming from. Thank goodness Carlisle did. Or seemed to, anyway.

"You just need a break, Edward." she sipped her wine again, considering her words. "Take some time to get that feeling of enjoyment back that you used to have. Look at the world of music again with fresh eyes. Write a completely different style of song, play some new music." She met my gaze again and smiled, the corners of her brown eyes crinkling slightly. "Meet some new people to write with to keep it different. Just step outside of what has become your 'norm' for a few moments. I think that is really all it will take for you to rediscover the joy that you used to find in doing what you love." She finished with a slight shrug of her own.

We sat there in silence for awhile, both sipping our drinks, and I was amazed at how comfortable I was with her. Then a question suddenly occurred, and I asked without thinking, "How did you know I was a rock star?"

She grinned at me, and laughed. "I saw you with those two girls." and I grinned back at her. So she had noticed. "I pretended that I didn't of course, I didn't want you to think I was only coming up to talk to you because you are a celebrity." and she winked. "I actually didn't even know you were one until I heard them talking in the bathroom before they left."

Ah, so that was where she had disappeared to when I'd looked for her earlier. I guess I should have thought about that sooner.

"And of course, I recognized your face on the redhead's chest." Bella laughed. I laughed with her for a few moments. It was a silly thing when you thought about it... wearing a picture of someone you didn't even know on your chest. Out of all the years that I had pushed the band's merch, I wondered why that had never occurred to me before now.

"So, why did you come up and talk to me then?" I asked, again, before I thought about it. Good Lord, I was getting really good about opening my mouth and inserting my foot. I was going to have athletes tongue if I wasn't careful.

Bella smiled again. Shit she had a beautiful smile. I could look at her all day when she smiled like that.

"Because I thought you were handsome," she qualified quickly. "And, as I said, you looked like you could use a friend." She surprised me by reaching out to touch the back of my hand lightly, and her touch sent electricity shooting up my arm. "Turns out I was right."

We spent the rest of the evening chatting about our lives and how we'd grown up, favorite things we liked to eat, movies we could watch over and over again, poems we loved, and books we enjoyed. I couldn't remember ever having a more enjoyable evening with a girl that I'd only just met.

We talked until Harry came over to tell us it was closing time, only to look up and see that we were the last two people in the club, and that the house musicians had long ago packed up and gone home. I hadn't even noticed. We closed out our tabs and walked to the front door slowly, both of us obviously unwilling for the night to be over. I knew I didn't want it to end, but I wasn't really sure where to go with it from here.

I decided to at least do the gentlemanly thing and offer to walk her to her car. I stuck my elbow out to her with a crooked smile, and she accepted it with a grin, and we started walking up the street, in the direction she indicated that she was parked. As we walked, my mind whirled in confusion.

The only experience I had had with girls recently either ended when we walked out the door, or, more rarely, when they went back to my tour bus with me to bust out a quickie before the rest of the band got there and caught us. Sometimes, I ended up creeping out of their hotel rooms in the early light of dawn, hoping that they didn't wake up and catch me, and I'd have to pretend that they'd meant something to me.

Ugh. Did I really do that?

Yes. I really did. Sometimes.

Luckily I could honestly say that I didn't do it near as much as Emmett or Jasper did. Those boys left with a different girl just about every gig, unless we were in just too much of a hurry to get to the next one. But, then, neither one of them were above busting it out in the back of the girl's car, or even in the bathroom if there was nothing else available. That was the rock star lifestyle, they said. It was expected.

Any of the girls I had spent time with lately were nothing more than painkillers. Just a little something to get me through an otherwise lonely night. They meant nothing to me.

Strangely, thinking about them while I was walking with Bella, I felt rather guilty for using those women that way. I knew then that I could never think of her that way. She was much more than that. Even though I had only just met her, I felt like I had known her all my life. I wanted to get to know her even better. Now I was in a quandary. What the hell was I going to do?

We slowly walked down the block in silence, each of us thinking our own private thoughts until she indicated that we'd gotten to her car. Then I stopped and looked down at her, my hands in my pockets, completely unsure of what I should do now.

As it turned out, Bella made my mind up for me. Giving me an impish grin, she tossed her hair back and looked up at me, staring me straight in the eye.

"Well," she said, amusement in her soft voice, "I hope you don't think badly of me, but I'm really just not ready for this night to end. I have had probably the best time that I have had in a long, long time, and I want to be selfish and keep it going." and with that, she stood up on tip toe and pressed her lips to mine.

Stupidly, I stood frozen in place for a full five seconds, completely surprised. This was not at all what I expected from her.

Then it hit me.

She was actually kissing me. Holy hell.

Then, in the next second, I felt her lips open, and her tongue ran along my bottom lip in an invitation my locked brain understood before I did. In the next moment, my hands were out of my pockets, bracing gently on each side of her face, and I was kissing her back.

She backed up a few steps and leaned against her car, never breaking the kiss, pulling me up against her as we stood there. I could feel my body responding to being pressed up against hers, and I felt myself flush slightly, not sure what she would think about that if she felt it. To my eternal amazement, she moaned softly and her left hand ran down my side to grip my ass to pull my hips tighter into hers.

That was all it took.

My body felt like it burst into flame from head to toe, and all of my blood rushed from my head and feet and centered somewhere around the middle. I ground my hips against her, my sudden hardness meeting her womanly softness, and I knew immediately where this night was headed.

Right back to my hotel room.

And I was not at all upset by that fact.


	3. Chapter 3 Moondance

3. Moondance

Laying on my back, my arms crossed and tucked up under my head, staring up at the ceiling, I tried to remember if I'd ever experienced a more perfect ending after such an awful start to a day.

Hearing her soft breathing next to me, I felt my gaze shift to where Bella lay on her right side facing away from me, her right arm curled up under the pillow, like a child. Her left leg was exposed to the mild night air, knee drawn up, with the sheet tangled around her small, yet perfect foot. The dark cloud of her dark brunette hair was a billowy, messy mass on the pillow next to me, and I realized that some of it caught under my right arm, but it didn't seem to bother her slumber, so I stayed where I was.

As my eyes wandered over the hidden, and not so hidden, contours of her perfect body, the moonlight broke free of the clouds and shimmered down through the open window of my hotel room. A slight breeze blew the gauzy window sheer gently to one side, and my eyes traced the soft beam of light on it's path, my breath catching in my throat as I looked ahead to it's destination.

Watching it in fascination, my eyes followed the sparkling light as it bypassed the white fabric of the bedclothes, and silently caressed the near translucent skin of her exposed thigh, drawing my devoted attention the soft curve of her naked hip as the moonbeam danced where my lips were suddenly longing to be.

Before I realized what I was doing, I slowly sat up, glancing at her sleeping face as I did so, not quite ready to awaken her.

Oh, I was _going_ to wake her up... was I ever... just... not yet.

Feeling the sheet fall off of my own naked body, I shifted forward on my knees to gently slide the tip of my finger along the moonlit curve of her hip, down the outer edge of her upper thigh, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. Moving my eyes briefly up to her face to see if my light touch had any effect on her slumber, I shifted my body closer, my gaze returning to the light skin of her upper back, glowing faintly just above where the soft white sheet covered the majority of the body I'd held writhing against me in ecstasy mere hours before.

Thinking of the deep gasping sounds of delight she'd made as she'd sat on my lap, legs wrapped around my waist with her head thrown back, gripping my neck as I'd kissed the base of her throat, had parts of me that had been sleeping, rousing slightly with the memory.

No no, Edward. Not yet. Patience.

Cautiously leaning forward, I braced one hand on the wall next to her head, and the other behind her back as I leaned in and kissed the base of her neck gently, then slightly running my tongue in a small circuitous path down her spine, between her shoulder blades, a slightly damp trail as the only evidence of my touch.

Bella stretched and moaned quietly, raising the arm that had been laying limply along her left side up to grip the elbow of her right arm, and the movement caused the sheet to slip down, exposing her entire left side to my wide eyed stare. Well, most of it, anyway. I could see on the top edge of her left side - from her shoulder to her toes, but only from the back view. Which, I didn't mind at all of course. She had probably the best ass that I could ever remember seeing on a woman.. and as I lightly ran my fingers over it's lushness, I felt myself firming up again.. and had to take a deep, steadying breath to keep it under control. Soon.

Oh... so soon.

The breeze blew through the window and ruffled the window sheer again, and the moon danced shadows on her soft, perfect skin, tracing patterns that I ached to copy. Finally giving in to what I wanted the most, I scooted up close behind her, and wrapped left my arm around her waist, and slid my right arm up under her pillow and pulled her naked body up against mine. I heard her sigh gently, still deep asleep, and I moved to drape my left leg over the top of hers, and rubbed my foot along the top of her foot, drawn up in her sleep. Unconsciously, she shifted back up against me, and when her naked ass made contact with the part of me that wanted to touch her the most, it responded instantly, and this time, I couldn't bite back a moan of my own.

Unable to wait any longer, I quickly ran my left hand down her naked hip, shifting back away from her slightly to give myself space to slide it in between us and down the crack of her ass to where it joined the tops of her thighs. Sliding two fingers into the deep crevice there, I was surprised to find her already moist and ready for me, even in her deep dreaming. Again, I moaned softly, sliding my fingers around in the silken wetness, and gently delved inside the deepest well for a moment, rubbing my hips up against her as I did so, and pulling her tight against me. The internal muscles unconsciously clenched down on my questioning fingers, and I heard her breathing quicken slightly as her sleeping body roused to my touch.

Rolling partially on to my back, I deliberately persuaded her legs to part for me, and I pulled my fingers out of the treasure they had found to grip the part of myself that was suddenly very much awake, and little by little, I slipped inside of her heated crease until I was buried deeply within her, my upper teeth making what I was sure was a permanent indention in my lower lip as I felt my stomach press up against the small of her back until I could move no more.

Arching her back, Bella groaned, much louder this time, and rolled a little more on her back so that she was settled more fully on top of me, angling her hips down, clamping down on the part of me that was sheathed within her. My now free left hand, reached around to the front of her hips and down, and I lightly rubbed the delicate damp skin of the folds I found there, and at the same time, I smoothly moved my arm that was under her head down until my hand was cradling her perfectly shaped breast, and gripped it lightly, giving myself something to hold onto that would ground me in reality.

I hoped, anyway.

Pushing her slightly forward and more onto her side again, so that I could have some room to move, I began to pull myself out of her, slowly, oh so slowly, until I was almost ready to slip fully out, and then more swiftly, slid back in again, kissing along her neck and ear as I did so, trying to gauge how far into her dreams she was. I was amazed that she had yet to wake up, although, given the excitement of our loving a few hours ago, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised how exhausted she was. She was a rather exuberant lover, uncaring that she hadn't gotten hers during our first session of lovemaking, as long as I was happy and sated. I had enjoyed it immensely, certainly, but I felt selfish and greedy, even though she'd insisted she wanted to take care of me. Now it was my turn to give her some back.

Growling gently with the emotions pulsing within me, I continued to stroke a slow, yet moderate rhythm, just using my hips, keeping my legs and feet tangled with hers, using them as leverage while holding on to her upper body and her waist with my arms to keep her from rolling away from me as I moved. Her breathing quickened, and her moans increased in volume and frequency, and just when it seemed she would find her release, I would slow and stop, hearing her panting gently, her head rolling, her hands finally gripping my arms where I held her. I was slow and careful, not trying to wake her up, wanting to keep her dreaming for as long as I possibly could. I was enjoying this even more than I had when she had been on her knees in front of me, pushing me back on the bed, slapping my hands if I tried to touch her.

Well, now I was touching her everywhere, and there was no slapping my hands away _this_ time.

Three times I brought her near to orgasm with my slow and deliberate movements, and three times I managed to find enough of my own inner strength to be able to stop and let it build, even though I could feel that my own release not too far away. We both wore a thick sheen of sweat, and the sheets beneath us were damp with the moisture leaked from our joined bodies. This was one thing I _was_ good at, and I wanted to give her all the pleasure that I could, before she even knew what was happening. My plan was to wake her up right before I let her release, so it would hit her full force and she would know that I had taken care of her, too.

Gasping for breath, I had to stop, feeling my own pending explosion, and I wasn't ready to let it go just yet. I laid there quietly, slowing my breathing, only moving occasionally to keep myself hard inside her. I listened for the sound of her panting to slow, and feel her inner muscles relax as I stopped the friction designed to excite them. Hearing her mewling sighs, and feeling her nails digging into my hands and arms, I smiled, wondering what she was dreaming, and if it was about me. Well, it was time to give her a strong dose of reality.

Once more I started the smooth motions, rotating my hips this time as I did so, I slightly squeezed her breast with my right hand, and rubbed lightly up and down her stomach and chest with my left hand as I kept up the constant movement with my hips. Using my chin to shift her hair out of the way, I breathed heavily in her ear, and ran my tongue along the outer edge of it, thrusting a little harder as I did so. She gasped, and I could feel her muscles clamping down once more, and I decided it was time to fully wake her up.

"Bella," I breathed softly into her ear, still stroking as I did so. "Bella, Beautiful, it's time to wake up." She moaned as she fought consciousness. Again, I was surprised that she was still so heavily asleep. Did she really drink _that much _wine in the club?

Finally, I was rewarded. "Edward?" Her sleepy, sexually husky voice whispered, and I felt her hips start to move in response to my strokes. I pushed harder, gripping her body tighter.

"Yes, it's me," I managed to chuckle in between gasping for breaths. It was building. "Who else would it be?"

She choked out a laugh, and I knew she was waking up, gasping for her own breath at the same time. "Good point."

"Well, now that you know it's me in the bed with you, and _in_ you, I'm going to give you back a little of what you gave me earlier. I sure hope your ready!" I growled into her ear, feeling her shiver with the warmth of my breath, With that quickly uttered sentence, I dug my heels in, rolled more onto my back and pulled her on top of me, pushing harder, bucking my body off the bed, our skin slapping together rhythmically, the sweat dripping off of both our bodies as I pushed us towards our mutual surrender.

Bella gasped, moaned my name, and ground her hips against me, meeting me at every up stroke with a down stroke of her own. As I felt her hot sheath clamp down on me, she suddenly sucked in her breath, let loose a high, almost inaudible shriek, and tensed from head to toe, shuddering violently, her nails digging painfully into my hands. The pain I felt at that moment implemented my own orgasm, and I couldn't restrain my own hoarse cry as my hips bucked hard, shoving myself inside her as deep as I could possibly go. Feeling the violent spasms as I released my liquid heat deep inside her, I gripped her with my legs for a moment before collapsing back onto the bed, holding tight to her still shuddering body.

With her encased in my arms, I rolled us both to our sides into a more comfortable position. For several moments, neither of us could speak, both working to slow our heartbeats and catch our breath, slick with sweat and other juices, smelling delightfully of sex, and totally unwilling to move. I realized that I'd been completely wrong before with what I had been thinking upon waking up a few hours ago.

_Now _it was a perfect ending to an otherwise shitty start to the day.


	4. Chapter 4 Love And Lyrics

4. Love And Lyrics

The next four days passed in a blur of events that I will never forget.

Since we were in Bella's hometown, Nashville, TN, she made sure that I got to experience just about everything the city had to offer that was tourist related. Every day ended just about the same though, no matter what different things we did throughout the day - we went back to my hotel and loved the night away, finally crashing into sleep when the sun was coming up... sweaty, gasping and totally spent, wrapped in a tangle of damp sheets. She amazed me with her stamina and creativeness in the bedroom. She even taught me a few things, and I thought I knew them all.

We went on the General Jackson riverboat, and had dinner while watching a band play. We went to the Frist Museum and walked around mesmerized by the beautiful art. We walked up and down Broadway, and she made sure that I went in and had a beer at all of the popular clubs - Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, The Stage, The Wildhorse Saloon, Legends Corner, The Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Club and the legendary B.B. Kings. I was completely amazed by the amount of musical talent to be had in this small city. Shit, they even had stages in the ice cream parlors! We talked non-stop the entire time, and by the end of the second day, I felt like I knew everything there was to know about her. And likewise

Beyond that first night, the only thing we never talked about was the band, my music, and the upcoming gig. Whenever I tried to talk to her about it, and to ask her if she would come to my next one, she would cut me off, saying that she didn't want to be around that scene, and that she liked the 'real me' that she knew, and didn't want to see me have to pretend to be someone I wasn't.

On about the third day, we were wandering around a place called Centennial Park, and I was watching her feed the ducks in the pond while I lounged on a near by bench. Bella looked up at me and smiled, pushing her long dark hair out of her face, and then laughing the next minute when a duck snatched a piece of bread out of her hands while she was paying attention to me. I was mulling over the lyrics of a new song that had started to take root in my head, when she screamed and laughed again, throwing the rest of the bread so the ducks, who had suddenly started crowding her, would run the other way. I threw back my head and laughed, pushing my own hair out of my eyes, watching in delight as she ran from a particularly pushy goose.

_laying there by your side_

_is right where I want to be_

_holding you in the darkness_

_hearing about the dreams that you see_

"I think he likes you, Bella!" I called, sitting up and laughing even harder as she shooed him away, and screamed again when he honked at her.

"I don't care if he likes me!" she laughed back, running over and climbing in my lap. "I don't like him! And I don't have any more bread!" she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her legs up away from the persistent bird. I chuckled as I wound my arms around her waist and looked into her brown eyes. Lord, I loved her.

Wait. What the hell?

I loved her? 

Where the hell did that come from?

Watching her struggle and push her hair out of her eyes and giggle at the goose who continued to try and nip at her feet, I realized I did, in fact, love her.

We barely knew each other. I did a quick mental count. Almost four full days. Could it happen so fast? I didn't have any experience with real love. Is this what it felt like?

Finally the goose got bored and wandered back towards the water to annoy the remaining ducks who were brawling over the last of the bread scraps. Bella turned back in my arms to grin at me, and I felt my heart melt all over my ribs.

Oh yeah. I loved her.

"So, what do you want to do now?" she asked me, flushed and out of breath. I smiled gently at her as she ran her fingers through my hair, meeting my eyes with confusion in her gaze at the bemused look I had on my face.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "This is your city. What else is there?" I said jokingly as I toyed with a tendril of her thick hair. She laughed her sexy laugh and kissed my forehead quickly.

"Honey, there is still tons left to do here."

I was quiet for a moment, just enjoying looking at her.. feeling the breeze on my face and the warmth of the sun... the distant sounds of children playing in the playground. It was so nice to be out of that stuffy damn bus that smelled like dude feet, and away from the stage and all the hoopla that went along with my chosen life. It would be so easy to walk away from.

Would it really?

But did I _really _want to?

Over the last few days while being out and about with Bella, that song I had been thinking about earlier had been rattling around in my brain, though it had been a few years since I had come up with an original song all on my own. This one had pretty much written itself, without much consideration from me, and I discovered that I was excited to get back to Emmett and Jasper to lay a groove to it.

_you're the one I think about_

_when I turn out the light_

_you're the one I dream about_

_when I fall asleep at night_

_it's so hard to live without _

_your love to hold me tight_

_I wish that you were here tonight_

_Here tonight_

"Bella," I hesitated for a second, unsure about what I was thinking and feeling, and afraid that she would walk away from me when I said this. I didn't want her to, but I didn't know how she would feel about it. She tilted her head to the side and waited patiently. She was so good at listening to me.. she always knew when to wait me out... knowing I'd come out with it eventually.

"I have to go to practice with Em and Jazz tomorrow. We need at least one before the gig, or we're gonna suck royally." I almost cringed saying the last, waiting for her reaction. She sat for a few seconds and looked me in the eye, her fingers running through my hair, as had become her habit whenever she was close enough to touch it. I had been rethinking the need to cut it because of it. "But I can call you as soon as we're done," I shot out quickly, hoping to make up for my former statement with a bribe. "And then we can hang out tomorrow night... go and get some dinner or something... maybe see a show." I smiled quickly at her. Bella smiled back at me, making me relax a little.

"I understand, Edward." she chuckled. "It is your job after all. Why do you look terrified at what I would think about it?"

I sighed in relief. Good. She wasn't going to run from me. Yet, anyway. "Well, I wasn't sure what you were going to say. We've been spending every moment together since we met, and I have almost begun to feel like I was a normal person again.. and not a rock star."

To my utter amazement, she clapped a hand over her mouth, her brown eyes huge and sparkling with amusement as she stood up quickly, trying to hold in the escaping giggles. Surprised, I dropped my hands from her waist and let her step back, wondering what the hell was so funny.

"What the hell is so funny?" I demanded, trying not to laugh myself. Her giggles were infectious. She stepped back a few steps, her eye glittering with moisture. What the hell? She was crying? What did I say?

Gasping, Bella tried to get a grip on herself, still backing away, but now she was using one hand to wipe away tears.

Tears? Of laughter? The hell...?

"Edward -" she finally managed to choke out as I waited impatiently for her to compose herself and her laughter at my expense. "When have _YOU _ever been... normal?" And with that, she took off running across the grass, her laughter trailing behind her, leaving me sitting there in stunned silence with my mouth hanging open. Abruptly, with a muttered curse and a bark of laughter of my own, I jumped off the bench, chasing after her.

Later that night, after the band and I had finished up practice, I called Bella and we had gone out to dinner, and then headed downtown to sit by the Cumberland River to relax in the stillness of the night. I was so relaxed, as a matter of fact, I felt like I could've slipped smooth on into a coma.

Now, back in my hotel room again, out of the blue, an idea suddenly occurred to me. Looking up at Bella from where I lay in my place at the end of the bed with my face between her legs, I squeezed her thighs to get her attention.

"Bella," I called. She stopped thrashing her head side to side long enough to look up at me, gasping.

"Oh my God, Edward... what?" she choked out. "Don't stop.. are you crazy?" I chuckled, stroking her inner thigh with my tongue. "What can possibly be so damn important that you have to talk about it _right now?_" she all but snarled, breathing heavily with her fingers tangled the sheet underneath her. I took a breath. It was now or never. She was never going to be in a more... compromising... mood than right now.

"I want you to come to my show tomorrow night."

She stopped gasping and looked up at me again. "What?"

"I didn't stutter." I growled huskily in the voice I knew she liked, gently squeezing her thighs again. "You heard me right." I said.. running my tongue again down her inner thigh closer to the sweet spot I had been giving attention to just moments before. She drew in a deep breath and dropped her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"No, Edward."

I was undeterred by her negative reply. I had her in the perfect position... literally... to make her see things my way. I wasn't sure why it was so important to me that she be there, but I wanted her there. For the first time in a long time, I was actually looking forward to stepping on the stage again, and she was largely responsible for that. It was only right that she be there to see it.

To see me.

And, besides.. I wanted to sing my new song for her.

"Why?" I asked her, releasing her thigh with my right hand and running it up over her stomach, feeling the muscles contract under the skin as I lightly tickled her. She sucked a quick breath, her eyes still closed.

"Because, I like the Edward I know." she moaned as I dipped in an ran my tongue along the moist, sensitive skin that beckoned to me. I felt myself growing firm, and knew I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Time to step it up a notch.

"That guy on the stage is also me, you know," I said as I intentionally breathed hot air on her dampness, and tickled her stomach again with my right hand and squeezed her thigh with my left. With my Bella, less was always more... and it didn't take much. A little bit of this here, a little bit of that there.. and all combined together at once equalled ecstasy.

"I know he is," she whispered, her voice catching in her throat as I tasted her salty-sweetness again. "I just don't know him." the last word coming out as a groan as I stuck my tongue more fully along her dampness. Again, her breathing picked up, and I worked her for a few seconds until I heard her uttering little moaning gasps and I knew she was getting close to being where I wanted her.

Reaching down, I stroked myself a few times, even though I was already more than ready to go, just because it felt good.

And, it never hurt to be a little more than firm when you were trying to make a point to a beautiful woman you had at your mercy on your bed.

Leaving my preferred spot at the end of the bed, I quickly crawled up and knelt over her, before Bella was even aware I had moved. Once she realized that I wasn't giving her any special attention anymore, her liquid brown eyes opened, and she looked surprised to be staring me in the eye.

"Come to my show," I murmured, as braced one hand on either side of her head and pushed her legs more fully open with my knees and slowly allowed my firmness to rub along the outside of her heat. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

"No."

I entered her just slightly and pulled away again, moving back quickly when her hips instinctively arched to force me in more fully. I chuckled under my breath. She was crafty. I did this a few more times before bending down closer to her ear and breathing down her neck as I pushed her hair out of the way with my chin.

"Come to my show."

Again. "No."

It wasn't as forceful, this time. I was wearing her down.

I pulled back and gently pushed forward again, allowing her to rock her hips and take all of me this time. Slowly, I repeated the movement until her breathing started to quicken and I felt the familiar tightening of my stomach muscles. Close. So Close.

I moved out of her again, and lowered my upper body more fully down on her, until I was supporting most of my weight with my elbows and my knees. I slid my hands up under her head and neck and gently tangled my hands into the hair at the base of her neck and heard her moan as she bucked her hips up, hoping to make me slide inside. I moved my hips just in time to stay outside and rested against her again. Leaning down, I touched my nose to her ear, and in a hot breath I whispered to her again.

"Yes." I said, as I slide all the way in, tightening my grip on her hair, and running my tongue along the outer edge of her ear. She sucked her breath in again, and rotated her hips as I stroked. Her hands released the sheets to grip my lower back as I slid in again.

"Bella," I breathed heavily, feeling the muscles in my stomach drawing tight. "Come to my show." I said as I moved even quicker, feeling the skin of my thighs running slick with sweat.

"_Yes..." _she groaned, and I felt her hands slide down and her nails bite into my ass as her inner muscles contracted and her release hit. I smiled in triumph and moved with a purpose to quickly bring about my own release to couple with hers. Fighting for her breath, I heard Bella grind her teeth together and couldn't stop the chuckle that I know she felt in our still joined bodies.

"You cheated." She accused when she was able to speak, glaring at me when I pulled back to look her in the face. I grinned.

"But you still said yes. So it stands. You're coming to my show day after tomorrow." I said, stroking her face lightly and kissing her gently. She sighed in frustration.

"I hate you right now."

I laughed. "You love me." and winked at her happily before laying my head down on the pillow to relax for a moment. She lay there lightly stroking my back. Damn that felt good.

_you're the one I think about_

_when I turn out the light_

_you're the one I dream about_

_when I fall asleep at night_

She was quiet for so long I thought she'd fallen asleep, then my jaw all but dropped open when I heard her whispered reply.

"Yes.. I do."


	5. Chapter 5 Another Night Rocked

5. Another Night Rocked

"All right, spill it, Eddie. Who's the chick?" Jasper suddenly demanded, out of the blue, right during the middle of the pre-show practice. Emmett who was standing nearby him, de-tuning his guitar, threw an elbow at Jasper's ribs, which he neatly dodged and slid behind his drum set for protection.

I had hoped that neither he or Emmett had been in the bus or awake when Bella dropped me off for practice. No such luck apparently. I was surprised that it had taken this long for one of them to say anything. Jasper was so nosy, I knew it had to be killing him for the last few hours while we went over songs for the gig later tonight.

"It's none of your business, asshole." Emmett snarled at him. Jasper threw a drumstick at him, which Emmett ducked easily. "Stop it shithead! You could put my eye out with that damn thing." Jasper laughed at him, snapping out a quick rim-shot on the drums. Emmett growled.

"Shut up guys. I'm not in the mood." I sighed as I flipped through our set list for the night, making changes and moving songs around in our set. "Let's just get this practice over with without bloodshed, OK?" I glared at them both in turn and went back to mulling over which songs to play and in what order.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper flip Emmett off and then started picking out a beat, one of the few songs he felt that he needed to work on... and truthfully, there weren't many. He might be a lot of things - including an asshole from time to time, as Emmett called him - but he was a damn good musician. Emmett picked up the lead guitar lick that went with it, and they left me to my musings.. the subject of Bella momentarily forgotten.

Thank God.

I hadn't told the guys about the new song I'd written for Bella yet; I was planning on using that as the improv song of the night - one that they didn't know I'd already written. Mentally I shrugged. What they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. I just hoped they came up with a groove that would do it justice.

If they didn't, I'd just have to kick their asses.

As a matter of fact, I hadn't told them anything about her at all.. as Emmett said, it truly was none of their business. I wasn't ready to discuss her, when I really wasn't sure where it was going to go from here.

Despite the promise she'd groaned in her moment of ultimate weakness, I honestly wasn't sure that Bella would show up at the venue tonight for our gig. She resisted the idea of getting to know my rock star persona, although I understood why she did. Not many woman were strong enough to handle this kind of lifestyle. And, ironically enough, she was the one who had made me realize that it was a lifestyle I wanted to continue living. It was who I am. I just hoped I was able to change her mind.

Twelfth and Porter was a pretty small place, and according to the owner, we'd sold out tonight's date three weeks ago. In Nashville, Tennessee, the home of Country Music, effortlessly selling out a rock show like we did was a really big coo. I was pretty proud of that accomplishment.

Finally done with practice, and about as prepared as we could possibly be, we set the stage in order, and headed back to the bus parked at the back of the lot across the street from the venue to chill out before the show.

Sliding into my cramped bunk, I stared at the ceiling and waited for sleep, wishing for the king sized bed in my hotel room, and to be snuggled next to the sleek body of the pretty brunette who'd stolen my heart.

The night went off without a hitch.

The sound guy was amazing, the lights on the stage were phenomenal, and the sold out crowd was seriously into the music. The girls screamed their appreciation whenever Emmett took front and center with that wailing electric guitar, head full of dark curls, flexing his huge biceps, and flashing that big dimpled smile full of perfect teeth. He stepped to the extreme edge of the stage and leaned over just long enough for one of the girls in the front row to run her fingers through his hair. Her friends grabbed each other and supported the girl as she fall backwards in shock, holding her hand in surprise that she was allowed to touch the curls the girls always lusted to touch. Then they all jumped up and down, giggling in unison as Em stepped back and winked at the lucky girl. She fanned herself, gasping with her wide eyes locked on my flirty lead guitar player.

I laughed and shook my head, catching Jasper's eye and saw him wink back at me as he twirled his drumstick and kept up the rhythm. Emmett could always be counted on to rile up the ladies.

I switched from bass to the keyboard for the next song, while Emmett took his turn on drums, and Jasper took over the bass guitar. I was happy to be able to sing and look around the venue for Bella, whom I had yet to see in the crowd yet.

Dammit... where was she?

Two songs from now, we had the spot slated for the improv song, and I was going to have to sing it whether she was here or not. I really wanted her to be there. I really didn't want anything more than for her to hear this song, in front of a sold out crowd, and my unsuspecting band.

We skated through the next song, and then I took my place on the drums, and Jasper finally got his chance to shine on the electric while Emmett took over the bass guitar. Playing the drums was his life's blood, but the charismatic, good looking, too skinny kid with the crooked smile could wow the ladies just as easily as Emmett or I could.. given the chance.

I was forever amazed at the dexterity that he showed as he danced smoothly away from them when they tried to grope him in what he called his "unmentionable places". Tonight was no exception. The girls in the front row were maybe more exhausted than he was, moaning and crying and trying to grab at him as he strutted by within inches of their grasping fingers, but never quite succeeding in laying a finger on him.

He never hurt their feelings though, as he slid away from them before they could touch him. Winking and grinning that wicked smile that continually left them them wanting more, he made up for any disappointment that being unable to touch him left them by dropping down on one knee to sing one on one to a several of them. By the time the song was done, Jasper was pushing his drenched hair out of his eyes, and dripping with sweat that had soaked his shirt completely through, smirking like the bad boy he believed he was. And they loved him for it

Yep. Asshole he may be, but when Jasper was on that stage and in "Entertainer Mode", he knew exactly what he was doing... and he did it very well.

As musicians whose only job was to make every girl in the place fall in love with them, Emmett and Jasper were masters at it. I often wondered why I was the more popular one. I certainly wasn't any better at it than they were.

Stepping up to the mic, Emmett asked the crowd to throw out a word or a phrase that we could build our improv song on tonight. I had pulled him aside earlier as we tuned our guitars between songs and whispered the 'words' in his ear that I wanted him to 'hear' from the crowd tonight. The people went crazy, yelling out the strangest combinations of words I think I had heard yet. Some of them probably should have made me blush.

Standing patiently behind the keyboard, which was my preferred instrument, I waited until Emmett had whipped the crowd into a big enough frenzy that they wouldn't realize that the words I wanted him to pick had never actually been said.

"OK," Emmett announced as he walked back up to me, a smile on his face. "We have our phrase for the improv song of the night." I tilted my head to the side, and pretended to be baffled and surprised as he said, "I Wish You Were Here Tonight"

I rubbed my chin and raked my hand through my hair as I pretended to try and think up some lyrics for this song. Tentatively, I began to play, hoping the guys would pick up what I was laying down and get the groove I was looking for. True to their talent, they fell in right where I wanted them to be, and so I played a little stronger. As I did, my eyes restlessly scanned the crowd and suddenly I found who I was looking for.

Leaning against the wall that surrounded the sound booth, smiling at me, was my dark haired beauty, Bella. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart began to pound. I smiled back, but it was several moments before I could get a grip on myself enough to get the words out. When Emmett moved in closer and raised an eyebrow at me, I took a deep breath and finally, free of hesitation, I began to sing...

_There is unspoken devotion_

_shining out from my eyes_

_and in the emotion that I feel _

_there is just no compromise_

_you're the one I think about_

_when I turn out the light_

_you're the one I dream about_

_when I fall asleep at night_

_it's so hard to live without _

_your love to hold me tight_

_I wish that you were here tonight_

_Here tonight_

My eyes locked on Bella's, and my fingers took on a life of their own. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, and I knew that she knew that this song was for her.

_laying there by your side_

_is right where I want to be_

_holding you in the darkness_

_hearing about the dreams that you see_

_you're the one I think about_

_when I turn out the light_

_you're the one I dream about_

_when I fall asleep at night_

_it's so hard to live without _

_your love to hold me tight_

_I wish that you were here tonight_

_Here tonight_

Emmett took off on a guitar solo, as was common on improv songs, and it gave me the break I needed to get my emotions under firm control. Bella's eyes never left mine and her smile never waivered as I sang the final verse and chorus.

_I'll make no promises to you _

_that I just couldn't keep_

_it's the pride in you I find _

_that makes no mountain too steep_

_you're the one I think about_

_when I turn out the light_

_you're the one I dream about_

_when I fall asleep at night_

_it's so hard to live without _

_your love to hold me tight_

_I wish that you were here tonight_

_Here tonight_

_Here tonight_

_Here tonight_

The song ended, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause and screaming. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity, lost in her eyes, and the crowd disappeared. Diamond bright tears made glistening tracks down her cheeks, and she reached up to wipe them away, chuckling softly. I couldn't help a silent chuckle of my own. Then I did something I had never done before at any show, in any town during any of the years I had been playing on stage. I pointed to her, and then blew her a kiss. She winked at me and nodded her head slightly, acknowledging the fact that I'd sang the song for her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett exchange a look with Jasper, who had come up to take the guitar from him for the next song. I didn't care that all of my feelings were written all over my face - and hers. All that I cared about was that she had shown up, and had heard the song that I had written especially for her.

And she loved it.


	6. Chapter 6 Unfamiliar Ground

**Edward is a rockstar in a very popular band on tour. He's lost the joy he used to find in his art, worried that people are only seeing his pretty face, and not hearing the words he's written and singing from the heart. He decides to take a break and get some new perspective and meets Bella in a Blues club. They discover they have a lot in common, and spend the evening talking. This is a sweet little story about their budding romance, and how Bella helps Edward find his way back to his music.**

_****ALL of the Characterizations all belong to S. Meyer - with absolutely NO copyright infringement intended whatsoever, and this story is meant purely for entertainment purposes only.****_

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><p>6. Unfamiliar Ground<p>

Walking out to the bus after the gig was over, I was riding this strange high that I wasn't sure that I could explain to anyone if they had asked me. As I stowed my keyboard in Eileen's plentiful belly storage, I thought back over the events of the night.

The rest of the show went as seamless as it had ever gone before; the songs blended from one right into the other, the guys were right on with their vocals, the crowd was into it, and I grinned like an idiot the entire time, knowing that my Bella was leaning on the wall next to the sound booth in a darkened corner of the club.

Soon after I'd acknowledged and sang my song for her, she'd slyly blown me a kiss and retreated to the back of the venue to get away from the screaming hordes of fangirls... some of who I noticed were giving her less than friendly glances. That didn't thrill me, but sadly it was part of the price of fame.

The last time that Jasper had brought a girlfriend (if that is what one could ever truly call one of the girls he spent 'time' with) to a show, there had almost been a riot once she was recognized as being with him, and we'd had to have security hustle the poor girl out the backdoor of the club and hide her on the bus. Women sure could be a bitchy lot to each other, that was for shit sure. After that episode, he'd never brought any girls with him to gigs again, and pretty much hid the fact that he was seeing anyone at all. Well, whenever he settled down long enough to pick just one, that is.

For some reason, Emmett never had that problem with the female fans whenever he dated a lady. I guessed it was his dimples that won them over or something, because he could bring a girl in the club with him, holding hands no less, then sit her on the damn stage, and kiss her right there in front of God and everyone, and we would never hear a peep. I shook my head ruefully, remembering the time that the big idiot had done exactly that one night with a gal he'd met in town before a few days before a show.

I just hoped that I was as lucky as he was on that front, because I planned on bringing Bella to a lot of shows with me in the future.

Well, if she would come, anyway.

Hearing footsteps coming up behind me, I straightened up to see Emmett grinning from ear to ear at me, and I knew there was going to be a little ribbing from him for this - I'd never wanted a girlfriend, and he knew it.

Hell, I had always ran from the idea before. Assholes and elbows from it. And now, here I was, with one. Go figure.

"So, Eddie... that was her, wasn't it? The one that dropped you off before practice the other day." He said as he stuffed the case for the electric guitar he called "Daisy" into the storage compartment next to my favorite keyboard.

"Yeah." I confirmed, not offering anymore information, knowing it would drive him crazy. Em couldn't stand not knowing shit.

He punched me in the arm, laughing. "Oh c'mon you prick. You're not going to leave a brother hanging like that, are you?"

"Yeah, Edward," Jasper said as he came out the back door, letting slam behind him as he wrestled with the hard case containing his huge kick drum and stuffed it in the compartment next to Em's guitar. "Fess up. Who's the hottie?"

Knowing that I would never get past it with these two, and deciding to just get it over with as quickly as possible, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed in defeat.

"Her name is Bella, and I met her at a Jazz club here in Nashville the night of our last gig. We've been hanging out ever since." I said, pinning each one of them in turn with a glare, daring them to say anything.

Jasper just grinned and nodded, then turned around to head back into the club for more of his drum cases. He was so easy to please. Usually.

Emmett, on the other hand, continued to grin at me, and shuffled his feet a little, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I waited him out, knowing that he was not one to keep his mouth shut when he wanted answers about something, and I damn well knew he had about a million questions about Bella.

Luckily though, I was saved when the back door slammed again. We both looked up, expecting to see Jazz with more drum cases, surprised to see Bella instead.

Looking unsure of her reception, she stopped, her eyes widening as she noticed Em and I staring each other down.

"The quiet one with the crooked smile said I could find you out here, and that it was okay to come on outside." She said, hesitating.

Emmett fairly crowed with laughter. "The 'quiet one'?" he chortled, walking over to her and grabbing her hand to lead her back to me. "Trust me, sweetheart, Jasper is far from 'quiet'!"

Bella smiled a little, put at ease by Em's easy going nature. He was so amazing with the ladies, sometimes it made me sick.

I reached out and took her hand, pulling her into an embrace for a second. She returned my hug tightly and then released me, but stayed within the circle of my arms.

"Hi," she said, somewhat shyly, glancing at Emmett as he stood watching us. I shot him a look and then returned my gaze to her gorgeous brown eyes. I swear.. a man could get lost in the depth of those eyes..

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett chuckle and shake his head, wandering towards the venue to help Jazz load out rest of our gear. She watched him go, and then turned and stood up on tip toe to kiss me quickly on the mouth. Surprised, but very pleased, my arms tightened around her and pulled her closer to continue the embrace. Too soon, she pulled back to smile at me.

"Hey beautiful," I replied, grinning again like an idiot, and running a hand through her silky brunette hair. "I'm glad that you decided to come tonight."

"I'll be honest," Bella sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I had to think about it for awhile to decide if I wanted to subject myself to that. I had an idea of what it was going to be like watching you with your fangirls the first night we met."

I understood where she was coming from. My lifestyle was not for everyone. It took a tough person to live it to begin with. Throw a relationship in there, and it could be downright hell. I just hoped she was willing to give it a try. I already knew she was tough enough to handle it.

"You wanna come and hang out on the bus for a bit while the guys finish packing up?" I offered, wanting to prolong my time with her as long as I could.

"Sure, but isn't that a little unfair to them? Letting them do all the work?" She asked, glancing back at the closed door of the venue. I shook my head.

"Naw. I think they will forgive me. This time at least. I think that they are still in shock that I actually had a girl show up at a gig." I said, laughter in my voice. A girl that I was happy to see, anyway. I had plenty of them show up that I was far from thrilled to see, that was for damn sure.

Bella grinned back and walked with me up to the open door of the red and white Prevost.

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><p><strong>I was asked if I would write more on this sweet little love story between Edward and Bella, so I've decided to see where their story will take them. Where do YOU think it should go?<strong>

**I apologize in advance for taking so long in between posting updates, but real life gets in the way of my writing sometimes. I shall try to improve in the future. :) **

**Thanks so much for hanging in there and for the kind reviews. They let me know that I'm on the right track, and give me incentive to keep on writing.**


	7. Chapter 7 A History Lesson

The following Chapter is written from Bella's point of view.

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><p>A History Lesson<p>

Watching Edward as he moved about the bus, getting us both glasses of wine, I couldn't help but think about the first time I saw him in the smokey little Jazz club where we'd met. I had been deeply involved in the book I'd brought with me, sipping a glorious red wine, listening to the smooth sounds coming from the live band, and trying to forget what a bastardly day I'd had.

My ex-husband of six months had shown up earlier that day to my apartment and made what I was sure was a helluva scene in front of everyone on my floor by screaming at me through my closed and bolted door.

Well, a scene to those that were brave enough to poke their heads out of their doors, anyway.

He begged me to let him in so that we could talk. I shouted back that I never wanted to see him again, that we were divorced, and he should get the hint and get the hell out of my apartment complex. He answered by pounding again on my door with his huge fist, demanding this time, for me to let him in. I yelled back at him telling him that I was calling the police, and if he didn't leave, I was going to shoot him through the door and let Nashville's finest pick his bloody parts off the hallway wall when they showed up.

I swear it felt just like we should have been on an episode of Jerry Springer.

He cheated on me. I caught him in the very act of doing it. In our bed. With my best friend.

He was the very last person I wanted to see.

He finally yelled back that he was going to leave, but it wasn't over, and made another big scene by stomping off down the hallway. Shaking in equal parts rage and fear, I sagged against the door and let my arm go limp with the weight of the Glock I was holding. I never came to the door when he came calling without being ready to back up my threats.

Threats that I knew he believed.. and that I knew were the only reason he left.

I waited until I was sure that he was gone before I poked my head out of my door to look around. Thank God no one else was poking their heads out of their doors at the same time. I don't think I could have stood the looks of pity I was sure would have been on their faces.

Closing and locking the door, I set the gun down on the table next to the couch, sat down and picked up the book I had been reading before he so rudely interrupted me. Then my cell phone rang, causing me to mutter something vile about constant interruptions while being at a juicy part in a good book. Without thinking, I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Bella.. look, don't hang up.. I just want to explain." came the rushed voice of my one time best friend, Alice.

Rolling my eyes, I felt very much like I wanted to vomit.

"What the hell are you doing calling me, Alice? I told you the day I walked in on you while you were screwing Jake in _our_ bed, that I never wanted to see you or talk to you ever again." I managed to choke out while swallowing down what I'd eaten for lunch.

"Bella, I swear.. I never, _ever_ meant for that to happen. And honestly, I'm not sure why it did. I haven't seen or spoken to him since." Alice gushed in a rough voice. I could tell she was holding back tears as she spoke. The part of me that had loved her since we were in elementary school twinged at hearing the emotion in her voice.

The part of me that raged over having caught her doing the Horizontal Hustle with my now ex-husband, wanted to punch her in the face.

"Whatever, Alice. I don't care." I shot back, not willing to have this discussion with her right now. "You know what? Maybe you did me a favor. If he cheated on me with you, my best friend, then who wouldn't he cheat on me with, right?" I caught my own voice starting to crack. "Please, don't call me. I can't handle it right now." Without giving her a chance to reply, I hit 'end' on the cell and set the phone down, struggling not to cry.

I sat there for a good twenty minutes, staring at the last paragraph I'd read, but seeing nothing, gulping like a fish, and wiping away tears that insisted on creeping out of the corners of my eyes.

I'd never been one to wallow in self pity, but it was sure having a good time trying to down me with the images of seeing Alice and Jake naked in bed together. Finally, my own strong sense of self preservation stood up and took charge, slapping me across the face.

Huffing out a curse that would have made my mother blush, I put my book down and stood up, rushing to the bathroom to wash my face and put on a new one with some of my favorite colors of make up. Running to my closet, I picked out a semi-dressy, but still comfortable outfit, drug a brush through my long, thick hair, and slipped on some high heels that never failed to make me feel sexy.

I really needed to feel sexy right now.

Rushing back out into the living room, I grabbed my car keys and my book, dropped the Glock in my purse, and locked the door as I ran out. As I climbed into my car, I knew I wasn't out to meet anyone.. I just need to get out of my house and away from the multitude of hurt that had been piled on me there today.

Driving quickly to downtown Nashville, I parked behind one of my favorite clubs, took the Glock out of my purse and stashed it in the car. Some clubs in Nashville allowed you to bring in a gun, as long as they also served food. This one did, but I didn't feel completely comfortable taking it in with me. I walked in through the back door, grinning at Mark on my way in, who smiled back and made a big show of bowing at the waist as I walked by. I couldn't help but smile back and smack him on the arm as I walked by. All of the guys that worked the doors at B.B. Kings knew and liked me, and never asked me for ID anymore.

Smiling at the waitresses and the bartenders I knew, I walked quickly over to my favorite table, and set my purse down on the floor next to my chair. Pulling out my book, I ordered a glass of red wine from the waitress that came to greet me, and settled in for a nice evening to myself listening to some amazing Jazz.

Several hours later, I heard giggles coming from a few tables over, and glanced up to see a few just-barely-old-enough-to-drink girls, heads together, whispering behind their hands, eyes bugged out and obviously all gaga over some guy. Mildy curious as to who was causing all of the ruckus, I glanced in the direction their gazes were glued and saw who they were having a conniption fit over.

The guy I now knew as... Edward Cullen.

"Bella... Bella Swan.. are you still with me?"

The low, sexy voiced question pulled me back to the present and I blinked quickly and smiled up at Edward as he handed me the glass of dark red wine.

Edward chuckled as he sat down on the couch next to me and put his arm around me. "Where were you just now, because you damn sure weren't here with me." He cocked an eyebrow at me and smiled. "If you were with another dude, don't tell me, because I might get jealous."

I smiled back at him as I ran a finger around the rim of my wine glass, very aware that I had yet to tell him about my ex-husband and his violent tendencies. I wasn't sure than I wanted to, but at the same time, I felt that it was only fair that I did, given everything that had transpired between us in these last few weeks.

I felt like I'd known Edward forever, even though we'd barely just met. It was amazing to realize how strongly I felt about him in such a short amount of time. I couldn't remember ever having felt like this with anyone else... even Jake. I'd made him chase me for months before I finally gave in and allowed him to take me out on a date. I'd hopped into bed with Edward the first night we'd met. That was so not me. And just look where we were now.

Speaking of that - where _were_ we now? What was this between us? What could it ever be? He lived in California... I lived in Nashville. I damn sure wasn't moving to California. I hated that state. So dirty, crowded and expensive.. especially the area he lived in. Well, the crowded and expensive part, anyway. Beverly Hills was anything but dirty. But, as a whole, the state didn't impress me at all. I would never live there. Ever. Not even for Edward, if whatever this was between us went that far. I didn't see how he could move to Nashville and still be in his band, since they were based in California.

Well, since I had nothing to lose, technically, I guessed it was only right to tell him the truth about my past and all the craziness in it... including my psycho EX.

"Well, since you asked, I will tell you." I said, running my fingers lightly along his upper thigh as I spoke. "Yes, I was with another guy just now. One I need to tell you about." I met his eyes steadily as his brows dropped and a confused frown crossed his face.

"What are you talking about, Bella? I'm a little confused now, I have to admit." He replied, catching my hand as it slid along his leg and squeezing it tightly. I could read a little panic starting to form in his eyes and decided that it was now or never.

"I was married, Edward." I admitted quietly, squeezing his hand back in reassurance.

"Was," he replied, some relief coming into his eyes and he held on to that word.

"Yes." I nodded. "I caught him cheating on me with my best friend, Alice." I took a sip of wine, needing the alcohol to battle back the images that formed in my mind at that simple statement. "In our bed."

Edward took a sip of his own wine, obviously needing the liquid courage as badly as I did. "Go on," he prompted, knowing there was more to my story.

I took a breath to reply and just as I did, the door to the bus banged open and Jasper came up the steps, followed closely by Emmett. Next to me, I heard Edward mutter something about them always showing up at the wrong times.

"Hola, amigo's. I hope we're interrupting.." Jasper said in a smart ass tone as he stepped into the cabin and grinned down at us with that lopsided smile he'd sported every time I'd seen him. Suddenly he yelped and jumped, falling onto the driver's seat as Emmett sucker punched him in the kidney from his perch the bus steps. I didn't blame Jasper for yelping like that. It looked like it hurt.

"Goddammit, Em, I was _kidding_!" he whined as he rubbed his side where Emmett had socked him. "You remember what that word means? You used to have a sense of humor!"

Emmett growled, stepped by him and then turned and smiled down at me, a small dimple making an appearance in his cheek. "I'm sorry for Jasper's assholishness. He hasn't learned how to be human yet." Then he leaned over and bumped knuckles with Edward, who smiled at him. It was easy to see which one of the two was Edward's favorite band member. And, judging by the way Jasper just acted, I could understand why.

"Sorry if we interrupted anything, Eddie, but we're done loading up, and the owner of the joint chased us out so he could lock up." He ran a hand through his close cut, dark brown curly hair, and look slightly uncomfortable for a moment. "But if you want, Jazz and I could probably go get a cab and go to one of the clubs downtown."

He glared at Jasper as he squeezed by, on his way to the fridge. Jasper quickly ran his fingers through the unruly mop of hair on his head and didn't disagree with him as he opened the door and pulled out a Bud Light and twisted off the cap.

"Sure, I don't care. Whatever you want us to do. I've been wanting to check out a few of the clubs while we're in town anyway." Jasper shrugged and plopped down on the bench seat across from us as Emmett went to get his own beer.

"Thanks for offering me one, dickhead." He muttered at Jasper as he threw his cap at him. Jasper batted it away before it could hit his face and flipped him off.

"You didn't say you wanted one, asshole, or I would've gotten you one!" Jasper complained back as Emmett sat down on the seat a few feet away from him. Edward glanced at me apologetically, but with a grin on his face.

"You see what I have to live with?" He chuckled. I smiled back and nodded, taking a sip of my wine. He might complain, but he loved them both like brothers, I could tell. This was where he wanted to be.

How could I take him away from them?

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><p><strong>Well... what do you think of Bella's back story? I wanted to show the reasoning behind her struggles to accept her relationship with Edward, with her psycho EX and the problem of geography being the main hurdles they will have to overcome. We'll also be seeing more of Jake in the future. <strong>

**I appreciate each and everyone of you that takes the time to read my little stories and those of you that have favorited and put my story on alerts. Thank you very much. It really means a lot to me. **

**Reviews keep my creative fires burning, however, and very few of my readers seem to want to do that. Am I doing something wrong? :) **

**Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my readers. I promise I will try to update again soon. **


	8. Chapter 8 Nashville Nightlife Nightmare

This chapter is from Bella's point of view.

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><p>Nashville Nightlife Nightmare<p>

It was decided by Emmett and Jasper that I, based on the fact that I lived here, should act as their tour guide and show them the best hot spots that my city had to offer. I really didn't really have any say in the matter, actually, and laughing helplessly while shaking my head, I tried to urge Jasper to let go of my hand and get off his knees where he'd fallen and started begging very over dramatically for me to 'show them the Nashville nightlife'.

Glancing at Edward, I raised my eyebrows at him and mouthed him a silent, Help Me! to which he replied by putting his hands up, palms out and shaking his head and chuckling.

"Oh no.. this is all you. I'm not saying a thing. He's a pain in my ass on his best day." He got up and walked to the small kitchen to put his wine glass in the sink. "Now he's all yours." Leaning against the counter, all tall and lean, he crossed his arms and winked at me. The sight of him standing there like that made my mouth go dry.

Still trying to tug my hand away from Jasper, seeing Emmett roll his eyes, shrug and suck back on his beer, I finally gave in. Turning back to take in Jasper's playfully pleading expression, I rolled my own eyes and huffed at him.

"OK, Jasper! Fine! Let go of my hand, and I'll take you out and show you my city! Just let me keep my hand!" To make my point, I tugged on my hand again. He grinned like a little boy, green eyes sparkling with amusement, and squeezed my hand once before he finally released it.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said, sitting back on his heels, chuckling. "I can talk a girl into anything."

I was amused and had to cover my mouth with one hand to hide a smile when both Edward and Emmett snorted loudly in contradiction. Jasper flipped them both a bird with each hand and winked at me as he stood up. I had to admit - I wasn't sure about him at first, but Jasper's personality was definitely starting to grow on me.

"Dude.. has anyone ever told you you should be an actor?" I laughed at him as sat on the bench seat across from me again, pushing his hair out of his face and resting one booted ankle on the opposite knee. "You're insane cheesy."

Jasper just grinned and picked up his beer. "I could never be an actor." he said, saluting me with the bottle. "No talent for it."

The guys all changed their clothes and showered, and after hailing a cab, we were ready to head the few short miles into the heart of downtown Nashville.

Riding in the cab with the three guys, including one Emmett's size, was interesting, but we managed to make it work with me sitting partially sitting on Edward and Emmett's laps.

Not that I minded sitting on _either_ of their laps at all, of course.

Luckily, we still had a few hours left before the bars closed down for the night, although there were a few open all night cafes and restaurants we could hang out in, in case they weren't ready to call it a night. One never knew with rock stars.

As it turned out, I didn't have to show them anything. Once we parked in the garage down on first street and started walking up the street, the other two guys came alive and pretty much dragged Edward and I from club to club. A few times they were recognized, and we had to beat a hasty exit out of the back doors while the bouncers held off the screaming fans. Each time it happened, I was reminded again that life in a relationship with Edward would never be _normal_.

But really, how boring was 'normal', anyway?

About an hour before the bars were set to close up for the night, we were wandering up lower Broadway and came up to one of my other favorite clubs, The Stage. Emmett, who until this point had been walking along side Edward and I in what Edward said was his 'typical mellow way', suddenly stopped, peering inside the open door intently, causing the bouncer at the front door to tense up, expecting trouble.

Considering that Emmett was actually bigger than he was, I wasn't surprised that he was looking a little worried.

"Eddie, we need to go in this one," Emmett whispered. "Now." Confused, Edward looked first at me, and I just shook my head.

"I have no clue," I replied, looking inside and seeing nothing or no one remarkable.

Edward looked Jasper next, who shrugged. "I don't care. We can go in if he wants." He grinned suddenly. "He probably saw a hottie sitting at the bar." and immediately his interest went to the open front doors, peering inside.

I smiled at the bouncer, one I knew, and nodded. "It's no trouble, Pete. We won't be in long. My friends just want to have a beer." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward glance at me, and knew he was wondering at the 'my friends' portion of my explanation.

I wasn't completely ready to introduce him as my boyfriend to the local people who knew me. What would I say when he was gone and I was here?

Pete nodded and let us in without hassling us for identification. So nice to be known in my town.

We followed Emmett at a slower pace as he made a beeline for the bar. Looking where his attention was centered, I saw a pretty blond girl sitting at the bar with a couple of friends. I recognized her - she was a local singer/songwriter who was gaining some popularity locally and abroad, both through singing and showcasing her own music, and writing music for other people. She was completely gorgeous.. but, so was Emmett. He might have a chance.

Hearing Edward chuckling behind me, I turned to find out what had amused him. Seeing that his eyes were focused on Emmett, who had ordered a beer and was even now chatting with the pretty blond singer, I smiled, knowing exactly what he was thinking before he said it.

"I should have known. He can spot the prettiest girl in a bar from across the street." Glancing down at me quickly, he grinned even wider. "Too bad he was wrong this time."

Confused, I said, "What do you mean? I know that girl. She's gorgeous."

Edward's hand came up and his eyes glittered as he ran his fingers through my hair. "I brought the prettiest girl in with me this time." and he leaned his body into me, rubbing his thigh against mine suggestively.

I felt a shaft of heat pulse through me, centering first in the pit of my stomach, it then swirled lower, causing my knees to wobble a bit. Good Lord he was sexy.

And I would be very happy to get him alone tonight.

After ordering up a glass of wine, and settling me and the wine at the bar next to Jasper, Edward headed off to find the bathroom. Before leaving, he cast a critical eye on his drummer.

"Keep your hands to yourself." Edward growled threateningly, pinning Jasper to the bar with his glare.

I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing at Jasper's wide eyed, completely shocked look. He recovered quickly though, and propped an elbow up on the bar and saluted him with his beer bottle.. a move which I was coming to see was a a normal thing for him.

"Don't worry, Eddie, " came his smart assed reply. "I'll make sure she doesn't miss you while you're gone."

I couldn't hold back the snort that I knew Jasper heard, and after another growl in his general direction, Edward headed down towards the back of the bar, weaving his way through the standing room only crowd. Suddenly paying attention to how busy the club actually was, I was surprised that we'd found spots at the bar all.

"You're awful, Jasper." I giggled at him. He grinned back at me with that lopsided smile that was unique to him. "Why do you push his button's that way?"

Jasper shrugged. "Because I can. And because we've been friends for so long, I know he can handle it." He took a sip of his beer and looked around. I watched him as he scanned the crowd.. obviously looking for a girl to flirt with.

A thought occurred. "Aren't you afraid that me sitting here will be a cock block to your style?" I asked him curiously. "Maybe, chase them off before you can move in?" He glanced at me, smiled slightly, and shook his head.

"Nope. If they are interested in me, trust me, Darlin'.. you sitting here would not keep them away." He answered with supreme confidence, his eyes never leaving the heaving crowd of bodies. "I won't have to lift a finger."

Giving him the once over, I could see how the girls could and did find him attractive. He was too skinny for my taste though. And entirely too cocky.

Sipping my wine, I turned my head to check on how Emmett was doing with the singer. She was smiling at him, blushing occasionally at something he said, and he seemed to have not only her, but her two friends as well, completely wrapped around his big little finger. With that pretty dimpled smile and blue eyes he had, I could completely understand his appeal.

I knew that between the crowd, and the line that had to be formed for the bathroom, even the guys bathroom, that Edward would be gone for awhile, so I leaned back against the bar, crossed my legs and got comfortable. Jasper was a quiet companion next to me, sipping his beer, and people watching. Even though we weren't talking anymore, and I knew this club and felt comfortable here, I was happy that he was still sitting next to me. Having him there would hopefully keep the dudes looking to score away from hitting on me.

"Who the fuck is this?" Came a deep, familiar voice from near my right elbow.

Frozen instantly to immobility, it was all I could do to keep breathing. Out of the corner of my left eye, I saw Jasper stiffen and whip his head around and prayed he would keep his mouth shut.

Slowly I turned my head to my right, and instinctively looked up, to where I knew the voice would be coming from. His six foot, six inch frame towing over me where I sat on my stool, Jake's usually handsome face was made suddenly very ugly, thanks to the snarl that turned the corners of his mouth down. His dark brown eyes locked on Jasper, it was obvious that he thought I was there with him. I was there with him, of course, but it was not like he thought. I prayed that Edward would be trapped in the bathroom until I could get Jake to go away.

If I could get him to go away.

"Jake, please, don't do this here," I said, my voice low and strained. Jasper, thankfully, didn't say anything, but didn't take his eyes off Jake either, ready for trouble if it started, but sadly unmatched when it came to Jake, who was easily twice his weight and a foot taller. "Go home."

"Who the hell is this guy, Bella? Is this the guy you dumped me for?" He demanded, his eyes whipping to mine for a second before going back to Jasper, his huge fists clenching. His anger normally frightened me, especially since our divorce. That comment pissed me off, however, and I straightened up and uncrossed my legs.

"Jake, in case your memory is somewhat fucked up, _you_ cheated on _me_ with Alice." I snarled back at him. "In my book, that means that _you_ dumped _me_ for Alice."

Jake looked at me again, his lips pressed together, his darkly tanned face going slightly pale. "I told you that was a mistake! It's never happened since and it never will again."

"I don't give a shit, Jake. We're divorced now. You're going to have to accept that fact and move on." In my peripheral vision, I saw Jasper's eyes lock on my face for a second, and I knew that revelation on my part was a surprise to him, not having been in the bus when I'd told Edward about being previously married. He bristled slightly, understanding exactly who Jake was, and not liking his tone with me anymore than he did before. He set his beer down on the bar behind him and sat forward on his stool, his movement gaining Jake's attention, who probably thought that Jasper was going to make a move on him.

Hoping to diffuse the situation before it spiraled any more out of control, I grabbed Jake's heavy forearm to divert his attention back to me and snapped, "Not that it is any of your business anymore, but Jasper is a friend who plays in a band, and we're out having a drink together. Please just go home and leave me alone."

I released his arm and sat back, crossing my arms, one hand going inside my jacket in a subtle way that I made sure he saw. His eyebrows pulled down, and the color rushed back into his face as he clued in, knowing exactly what was hidden in that side of my jacket up under my arm. I could see the indecision in his dangerously narrowed eyes as he weighed how serious I was with that unspoken threat.

I never went anywhere unarmed anymore.. and Jake knew it.

Waiting him out silently, praying that Jasper stayed where he was and kept as silent as he had been to this point, I could almost feel the thin wire we were all teetering on. Anything could upset the tenuous balance right now... anything.

Keeping my eyes locked on Jake's, trying to will him into backing down and just leaving before anything else happened - like Edward showing up from the bathroom - I all but jumped off my chair when a heavy hand fell on Jake's shoulder from behind. Jake tensed, but didn't turn around. He wasn't used to people coming up behind him, much less touching him, as huge as he was, and he was caught out and unaware.

A voice now familiar, and equally as deep as Jake's, drawled slowly, "Excuse me, don't mean to interrupt, but is there a problem here, Miss Bella?" Beside me, Jasper visibly relaxed and almost smirked.

Cautiously leaning slightly to the side, Emmett's sparkling blue eyes and dark curly hair came into my view, and I knew that the balance had just been tipped.

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><p><strong>So.. Jake against Emmett. Could be interesting, yes?<strong>

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	9. Chapter 9 Attitude Adjustment

9. Attitude Adjustment

This chapter is told from Bella's point of view.

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><p>Jake locked eyes with me for a second, and I could only shrug and smile tightly at him. On some inner level, I knew that my grinning at him was going to push his buttons, and I didn't want Emmett to get hurt if it came down to that, but I also figured that Em was completely capable of taking care of himself, and Jake needed to learn that he couldn't push me or my friends around like this.<p>

I also had a strong feeling that Emmett would be a great teacher for that particular lesson. .

"Oh, hey Emmett," I said as casually as I could make myself sound. "This is my ex-husband Jake. He saw me sitting here with Jasper, and wanted to come over and say Hi. I think everything is okay, though, isn't it Jake?" I explained with a pointed, narrowed eyed look at Jake.

Slowly and reluctantly, Jake nodded in acquiescence. I knew it wouldn't take much to push him the other direction, although for the moment, he knew he wasn't in a position to argue with me. He didn't like to be pushed around either, but he was at a distinct disadvantage with Emmett standing behind him.

Emmett's eyebrows shot up at my introduction, and he dropped his hand off of Jake's shoulder, but stayed tense, prepared for whatever Jake would do. He stepped carefully to the side, while still positioned behind him, and offered Jake his hand.I knew he was trying to be the bigger guy, despite knowing that I was full of shit with my introduction, and my respect level for Edward's best friend went up a few more notches.

Jake turned slightly and looked down at the hand that was offered him and then up to Emmett's face. Emmett smiled tightly at Jake, still holding out his hand in introduction. Jake's dark eyes narrowed and his head came up, and he not only blatantly ignored Emmett's hand, but he turned his back on him and looked again at me.

I felt my own eyes widen at looked at Emmett to see how he would handle the snub. He was much cooler than Jake would have been, had the situation been reversed. Emmett merely dropped his hand, shifting his gaze to Jasper quickly, and then re-locking it on Jake's profile, waiting to see what he would do.

Next to me, Jasper suddenly sat forward, his head whipping around to his left. He stood up so abruptly, that both Jake and I flinched, and I turned quickly to see what his problem was.

"Well, guys, this has been entertaining, and I can't say that it was nice to meet you, Jake, but I believe I need another beer. If you will excuse me." He locked eyes with me for a split second, did the same to Emmett, didn't wait for any of us to reply, and took off towards the back of the club, quickly getting lost in the crowd.

Confused as to why he would leave us when stress levels were at such a fever pitch, I turned back to meet eyes with Emmett who just shook his head slightly. Jake smirked, liking these new odds.

"Well, Bella, why don't we go outside and talk. Looks like your _friends_ -," he emphasized the word 'friends' to make a point, "- will be minding their own business and getting themselves new drinks." and he reached like he was going to take my hand.

I flinched back, not wanting him to touch me, and re-crossed my arms to remind him that it would be a very bad idea if he pushed the issue, crowd or no crowd. Nashville was an 'at the owner's discretion' gun carry city, and I had the owner's blessings to carry within his club... thanks to him knowing about my situation with Jake. It didn't matter much now though, because as soon as I moved, Emmett apparently decided that he'd had enough of Jake.

"You're right, Jake," Emmett drawled quietly, his deep voice so full of menace that it caught Jake's immediate attention, and he whipped his head around and looked again at Emmett with his dark eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I _am_ Bella's friend. And the fact that you're up in her face in spite of the fact that she obviously doesn't want you to be, has made it _my_ business."

Jake frowned at him. "Oh yeah?" he snarled, clenching his fists. Emmett just winked at him and smiled wider, showing off all his dimples.

"Yeah."

In the next instant, Emmett grabbed a hold of Jake's arm, twisted it up behind his back, spun him around and started pushing him towards the front door. Caught by surprise, all Jake could do was cuss and struggle the entire way, unable to escape Em's iron grip.

For a split second, all I could do was blink as I watched Emmett wrestling with Jake. Then, like a shot I was off my chair, purse in hand, running for the front door to stop the bouncers from interfering. I got to the door just as Pete was starting after Emmett, asking him what the hell was going on.

"It's OK, Pete. My friend has him under control." I put a hand out to stop the big security guy before he could get involved. "Jake's just had a little bit too much to drink, but doesn't want to leave yet. But, we're leaving now." I rushed, almost tripping over my words in a haste to get them out. "If you see my other two friends, tell them we will wait for them outside." and I ran out the door after the two huge guys.

I found Emmett still struggling with Jake halfway down the block. I ran to catch them, and just trailed behind, listening to Jake's curses, and hearing Emmett telling curious onlooker's that it was alright, his friend was just 'drunk off of his ass and didn't want to go home yet.'. I was somewhat amazed though, I had to admit. Jake was a massive guy, he'd always been very strong, and yet Emmett handled him with complete ease.

Like he was used to dealing with drunken assholes on a daily basis. Which, considering which line of work he was in, really wouldn't surprise me.

Emmett pushed Jake around the corner of Broadway and Fourth Avenue, and I cast anxious glances behind us, suddenly having the feeling that Emmett had silently told Jasper to find Edward and that was what had caused him to fly off his stool like that. I could only hope that it was to keep Edward away from this mess, and not involve him in it. I really didn't want Edward to meet Jake.

Ever.

Out of immediate sight of the downtown crowds and the Metro cops that trolled downtown on the weekends looking to fill their quotas, Emmett deftly flipped Jake around and shoved him up against the wall. With one arm a crossbar across his throat that held him in place, while the other hand was still locked on Jake's other arm, he stepped in close to Jake, nose to nose with him, and looked him dead in the eye. Jake stopped struggling and stared back at him.. hate written all over his face.

"Now then," Emmett all but purred, his soft voice full of deadly menace. "Perhaps you would like to tell me why you have to be all up in Miss Bella's face like that in a public place. Didn't your Mama teach you any proper manners?"

"What I do, or say to Bella in public is not your business, asshole. Let me go." Jake snarled back struggling against the iron grip he was being held in. Emmett didn't so much as budge.

"Ah. He has a nickname for me now," Emmett took his eyes off Jake's for a second to flash a grin at me before staring Jake down again. "How sweet." He raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean we're dating?"

I blinked, but was unable to answer due to the sudden dryness of my mouth. I knew how dangerous Jake could be when he was cornered, but Emmett didn't.. and I couldn't warn him.

Emmett continued on in that same deadly voice. "Too bad that I've been called worse... by better. Sad that I have to repeat myself so soon. For your information, your rudeness to her in front of me _is_ my business. I won't tolerate it, you get me?"

"No. I don't!" Jake growled and shoved back against Emmett's grip and took at heavy swing at him, connecting solidly with his lower jaw, momentarily causing Emmett to lose his balance and stagger back a step.

Emmett recovered quickly and blinked, looking at Jake with a whole lot of oh-no-you-didn't written on his face, and instantly returned the blow with a strong left handed jab, causing Jake to fall back against the building again. I moved backwards quickly, to give them room. I knew better than to get in the middle of this, or to try and stop it. I would only end up getting hurt.

The two huge guys traded blows for a few minutes - Jake looking and punching like a street fighter, and Emmett's stance more resembling that of a trained boxer, keeping his hands up protecting his face, and dancing just out of reach on most blows that Jake threw at him. I had to admit, Edward's lead guitar slinger certainly knew how to handle himself in a fight. I made a mental note to ask him about that at a later date.

After a particularly hard blow to the chest from Em that caused Jake to stumble back against a car parked nearby, Jasper and Edward came running around the corner, both of them sliding to a stop a few feet away, eyes wide, taking in the action. I went to Edward's side, and gripped his arm to keep him from getting into the middle of it. Jasper slid up to my right side, keeping close just in case he was needed. Edward glanced quickly down at me, and then looked back at Emmett and Jake, who were staring each other down, still in tense fighting postures.

"Emmett?" Edward called, making sure that his friend knew he was there to back him up. Emmett smiled without taking his eyes off Jake, and quickly raised a thumb from one of his bloodied fists before tucking it back down again. I took the moment to appraise the combatants injuries, silently surprised that Metro had yet to show up to break up the fight.

Jake was bleeding from a gash over his right eye, causing that eye to squint from the blood that free flowed into it, and from a cut in his chin. Emmett had a busted lower lip and a long slice across his cheek that dripped blood down to and off of his chin. I was both moved and disgusted that this had happened. The fact that Emmett would get into a fight for me meant more than I could ever repay him for. Because it had actually come to that, made me want to pull my Glock and shoot Jake where he stood.

Couple that with the whole episode causing Edward and Jake to meet face to face... uh, yeah. He was damn lucky that I wasn't interested in going to prison on his behalf for dropping the bastard in the street like a rabid dog.

Realizing that backup had arrived for Emmett, and that he was already hampered during fighting because of the stinging blood in his eye, Jake dropped his hands and stood up, looking away from Emmett over to me where I stood next to Edward. I saw his glance drop down to where my hand rested on Edward's arm, and then whip back up to narrow on Edward's face, memorizing it. I resisted the urge to drop my hand. No need to do that now, even to protect Edward. It wouldn't change a thing.

"Since I doubt you dickhead's would allow this fair fight to continue, I believe I will go home." Jake murmured in a nasty voice. He pinned all of the guys with a look before his gaze finally locked on mine. "I'll see you soon, Bella." I jacked up my chin and looked him in the eye.

"I doubt that, Jake."

Jake winked at me with his non-injured eye. "We'll see." and then he turned to walk up the block toward Commerce street, disappearing in the darkness.

Emmett watched as Jake vanished and then turned and walked up to us, stopping in front of me. Despite the blood, I couldn't resist going up on tip-toe and throwing my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He stiffened in surprise, and then wrapped his arms gently around me before bending down to pick me up off my feet in a bear hug.

"Thanks, Em." I sputtered out, and was instantly crushed against the huge expanse of his chest, my voice muffled in the folds of his shirt. Setting me back on my feet again, he winked at me and grinned, popping out his adorable dimples again.

"Don't worry about it, Bells." he ruffled my hair. "I've always got your back. Although..." he trailed off and then did something I wasn't expecting. Stepping back, he gently moved aside my jacket to expose the Glock nestled in my shoulder holster resting under my right arm pit. "... I doubt you would have needed my help." Next to me, Jasper leaned forward, caught sight of the gun and whistled softly.

"Damn, Bella. Remind me to never reeeeally make you mad, okay?" Jasper chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaning against the car next to us before crossing his legs. I smiled at him before pulling my jacket closed again, and tentatively looking up at Edward, not sure what I would see in his face. I was met with a confused look, his eyebrows pulled down in concern.

"Edward..." I hesitated for a second, swallowing hard. "Say something.."

He was quiet for a few seconds.. long enough to cause me to want to squirm, although I resisted the urge. Then he took a deep breath, and pushed a hand through his hair before he softly ran it along my cheek causing my whole body to tingle in response. Sighing, he cupped my chin gently before dropping his hand back down to stuff it in his own pockets, in much the same way that Jasper had a few moments ago.

"Bella, I think we need to talk."

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><p><em><strong>Looks as though Emmett has a few hidden talents, huh? Hm. We might have to explore that a little further later. <strong>_

_**I doubt we will have seen the last of Jake though. I think it's time that Bella came completely clean with Edward, don't you? **_

**_I would love reviews.. I'm going to sound like a broken record here when it comes to that. *grin* But it's true.. I would!_ **


	10. Chapter 10 Coming Clean

This chapter is told from Edward's point of view.

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><p>Sitting on the bench seat in the forward section of the bus, I watched as Bella argued with Emmett over whether or not she would clean up his wounds. She insisted that she would be the one to take care of him, even after he tried to back away from her, ending up sitting heavily on the bench opposite me when he ran out of space. He argued back at her that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but Bella was having none of it. I glanced at Jasper who just grinned at me, shrugged and turned and pointed to Emmett.<p>

"I wouldn't bother arguing with her, Em. Personally, I think she could take you." Jasper laughed as he then walked down the hall, pulling his shirt tail out of his jeans and unbuttoning it as he went. Pausing next to the drape that separated the common section of the bus from bunk row, he turned and flashed that trademark crooked smile.. "It's been an interesting night for sure, but I'm heading to bed.. we have a long drive tomorrow." He grinned at Bella where she stood, her hands planted on her hips, a stubborn set to her jaw. "Goodnight, Miss Bella. It was a _pleasure_ meeting you, and I hope we meet again soon." Bella smiled back at him, his southern charm having evidently won her over this evening.

Dammit. I knew better than to leave him alone with her.

Even spoken in Jasper's nearly gone Texas accent, the word 'pleasure' was still outrageously stressed, giving the word an implied double meaning, and causing me to growl at him threateningly. He laughed back at me, his green eyes sparkling. "Oh chill out, Eddie. She only has eyes for you." With that, he winked and ripped the curtain closed behind him.

Muttering to the empty air where he'd so recently stood, I settled back on the couch to wait out the battle of wills happening across from me. Em, with poor grace, finally gave in, conceded victory to Bella, and allowed her to tend to his various cuts and scrapes.

"So, Emmett," Bella began as she set out the supplies she would need to clean Em's cuts. "I was watching your technique out there with Jake. You're pretty bad ass." She carefully lifted his hand and cleaned one of the fight bites on his big knuckles. "Where'd you learn to handle yourself like that?"

"I did some boxing in college," Emmett replied, his eyes glowing with the praise. "I also signed up randomly for matches here and there to earn a little extra cash when money got tight before the band started really taking off." He shrugged, trying to make light of the extremes that we sometimes went to back in the day when there was no food in the house and no gigs to be had.

Before our little band had gained the recognition that we have now, there were nights we went to bed hungry. The term, "Starving Artist" definitely applied to all three of us many, many times in the years following college graduation.

"Ah, well, you do what you have to do sometimes to get by, you know." Bella smiled at him as she dabbed at the nasty cut on his cheek. "In your case, you must've been pretty damn good at it, judging by what I saw out there tonight."

Emmett looked so smug, I was worried his head might actually explode. He could be such a sucker for compliments... especially from pretty girls. Watching him with her, I had to hide a smile, suddenly realizing that my best friend was completely besotted with her, looking at her with big puppy dog eyes. Strangely enough, knowing that Emmett had an actual, although harmless, crush on Bella didn't bother me near as much a seeing Jasper merely flirting with her. He bugged the shit out of me. I wondered at the difference between the two.

Oh hell.. I knew exactly what the difference was.. who was I kidding? They were both dogs, for sure, but, I trusted Emmett not to go after _my_ girl. Even as long as I'd known Jasper, I still didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Sad, but totally true.

Watching how tender Bella was with Emmett, frowning and wincing when he would pull back if she unintentionally caused him some amount of pain, my heart swelled until it felt like it was going to burst. Never in a million years did I expect to have this amount of feeling for someone that I had only just met. And, sitting there watching as she cared for Emmett, all of a sudden, I realized just how deeply in love with her I was.

It was terrifying.

About an hour later, after finishing up her self appointed task and saying goodnight and goodbye to Emmett, Bella and I took her car back to her apartment. It was time that we sat down and had a serious talk, and if I had to admit it to myself, I was scared to death... terrified that I was going to lose her.

Tomorrow afternoon, the band and I were leaving Nashville to start the long trip back to Vegas and California for the next two stops on the tail end of our year long tour. I knew that Bella couldn't come along... she had her own life here. What I did know was that I _didn't_ know where it left us. Long distance relationships were one thing when there was only a few hours distance between you and the girl you loved. But, a few thousand miles between you was a completely different story.

Both the ride back and the walk up the stairs to her apartment were silent, neither of us ready or willing to start the conversation that we knew we needed to have.

I walked in after Bella and sat down on the couch to wait as she did what I was positive was her own nightly ritual. She started off by locking both the dead bolt, and the knob lock on the door, as well as drawing up the chain and making sure it was secure. Next, she dropped her purse on the counter, and pulled off her jacket. Slipping the Glock out of her hidden shoulder holster, she double checked the safety and laid the gun on the end table next to the couch where I was sitting before unbuckling and shrugging out of the holster harness and draping it on the back of the nearest dining chair. Next, she walked around and checked all of the windows to make sure they were securely locked before she finally came over and sat down on the couch next to me.

Watching her in silence as she fussed with the pillows on the couch to get comfortable, I realized that she did all that she did out of fear of that guy that Emmett had fought out in the street earlier, Jake. Remembering the sheer size of the guy, and the ugly light in his eyes as he stared at her, I could certainly understand why she was frightened of him. He was just bad news all the way around.

Still not wanting to have this conversation, I finally decided to just dive in.. and hope like hell I didn't drown.

"So... Jake?" I prompted. She sighed heavily and refused to look at me. I could tell that she was mulling over what she was willing to tell me about her ex-husband. I waited her out, knowing she would tell me in her own time. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision and got up to pace the room as she told me her story.

Bella and Jake married young. Way too young. She was desperate to escape her overbearing parents and their military strict household. She dated Jake mostly to piss her mom off. He was the perfect guy to accomplish that mission - rode a motorcycle, wore leather jackets, an earring, and had tattoos, the typical poster child for the 'bad boy' - and it worked. Her mother disowned her and kicked her out of the house, where she immediately married Jake. Finally, she was free.

Except she wasn't free.. not really. She'd jumped from the fire, straight into hell.

Unfortunately, she didn't take the time to find out what kind of a guy he was before they married, and within six months into the marriage, she found out that he was cheating on her with just about everything female. When she caught him the first time, he begged forgiveness, and swore he'd never do it again. When she'd caught him the next time, it was in her bed, with her then best friend. She walked out, and got a hotel and immediately started the divorce process.

In the months that followed, Jake went from pleading for her to come back to him, to following her, to violent fits of temper that scared her so much, she decided to buy a gun for protection. Over the next several weeks, she took classes on gun safety and learned how to shoot the Glock with deadly accuracy. When she felt she was ready, she went and took the tests necessary to get her carry permit. She'd been carrying the firearm ever since.

Jake had only really threatened her once after she'd gotten the gun; he showed up at her apartment, she threatened to shoot him with it, and for whatever reason, he believed her and left. She figured he finally figured out that he'd pushed her too far. He still dropped by the apartment occasionally, still unable to take "Not a chance in hell" as a "No!", but he didn't push the issue as far as he used to, knowing she was armed and knew how to use the weapon for defense.

And now, here we were.

About midway through her story, she'd wandered back and sat next to me on the couch, snuggling under my arm for comfort, tucked in up next to my side in a way that I knew I shouldn't let her. This goodbye was going to be hard enough as it was without feeling her warm body next to mine. Her hand unconsciously came down and began to stroke my thigh as she talked, not even realizing she was doing it.

Dammit. I don't think she knew she was doing it, anyway.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to ignore the lazy circles she was drawing on my leg, but I wasn't having much luck. It'd been a few days since I'd felt her naked body next to mine, and the memories of the last time we were together tumbled over in my mind and ignited that slow burn that I'd come to expect whenever we were close to each other. I felt myself start to swell and harden, and I fought not to squirm and give myself away.

Holy hell. Were these jeans always this tight?

The betrayal of my body must been more obvious than I thought, or I was just really bad at hiding it, because I heard Bella drew in a long deep breath, slowly exhale and she looked up at me with heat sparkling in her eyes. Her eyes locked on mine and her hand deliberately moved up my thigh this time, and her neatly manicured nail just barely skimmed over my jeans where they had suddenly become stretched tight over the monster hidden within them.

Damn. Where did all of the air go in the room? I sucked in a desperate breath, struggling to keep control of myself, discovering that my own hands had started moving of their own accord up her arms to cup Bella's face. With a curse, I gave in and kissed her furiously, pushing her back on the couch until my body was laying on top of hers.

I knew better than to let this continue, to let it go any farther and risk the pain we both would have to endure when I left. But I was so tempted to have one more night wrapped up naked in bed with her.

No way. I couldn't do it. Taking a deep, steadying breathe, I pulled back away from her embrace, willed my heart to stop racing, and for the demon pushing at my zipper to go back to sleep.

Fat chance.

"We're leaving tomorrow, Bella." I stated, hearing the breathlessness of my arousal mixed with the sadness in my own voice. "We have to hit the road and finish up the last few dates on this tour and we only have a few days to get to Vegas."

Bella sat up again, catching her own breath, and pushing her hair out of her face. Finally looking up and meeting my gaze, her own grief was plainly written on her face. "I can't go with you." she said, her voice breaking on the word 'you' into just a whisper. I nodded, my heart feeling like it just exploded inside my chest.

"I know. You have your own life here. I never expected you to go with us, but, I will admit, there is a part of me that was certainly hoping you would."

"I wish I could." she sighed heavily. "I have a job here that depends on me.. and I've been on vacation entirely too long as it is. I have to go back."

We were both silent for a time.. lost in our own thoughts. Finally, I said, "Will you be alright here? I mean.. with Jake?" Her face tightened and she dropped her eyes, unable to look me in the eye.

"I'd hoped you would never have to meet him. I'm so sorry about that." she finally looked up at me. "I feel so awful that Emmett got into that fight with him, and at the same time, I'm glad that he did. Jake needed to be taken down a peg or two."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about Emmett. He likes a good scuffle every once in a while." I chuckled. "It keeps him in shape, and he didn't really get hurt. Just the typical busted knuckles and fight bites kind of stuff he usually ends up with."

Bella shuddered. "Just the same, I wish it hadn't happened." She fell silent for a bit, and we sat there in silence.. mulling over the future.

The clock on her mantel chimed four a.m, catching my attention, and I found myself staring at it, willing time to go backwards. I really needed to get back to the bus. The tour manager had wanted us to pull out by six a.m. to start the first leg of our drive. I didn't want to leave. If I had to leave, I wanted Bella to go with me. I couldn't imagine life without her now.

I was just about to open my mouth to beg her to come with us, when she looked up at me with tears painting diamond bright pathways down her cheeks. I reached up and caught one with the tip of my finger and did something I'd only ever read about in books... I brought it to my mouth and tasted her grief. My stomach clenched in my own pain, knowing that I was the cause of hers.

And I hated myself for it.

"Bella?" I choked out, still hoping I could manage to get out my request before we both fell apart. I knew what the answer would be, but I had to try. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try to get her to go with us. She put a hand up to silence me, however, and my teeth came together with an audible click.

"Just go, Edward. Go." She drew a deep, shuddering breath, fresh tears falling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. "I knew better than to get involved with you. Every day, I fought my attraction to you, knowing this day would come. That you would have to leave me, and I wouldn't be able to go with you." she stood quickly and paced to the window, her back to me, looking out at the darkness beyond, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were trying to keep from flying apart. I sat where I was, frozen in agony at her words, unable to say anything at all.

"I can't bear not knowing if or even _when_ I will see you again, or if you will find someone else out on the road or in California, and forget all about me." She forced a hard laugh. "I know how musicians on the road are. I live in Nashville. I'm surrounded by them. I see it everyday." Again she drew a deep breath. Finally, she turned and looked at me, the sadness soul deep in her eyes. "I'm not strong. I pretend like I am... I carry a gun and put on a hard front, but I'm just not strong. I'm weak." smiling a small sad smile, she brushed the tears off her cheeks and tucked her hands in her pockets. "I knew who and what you were when I walked up to you at that table, but I never expected to fall in love with you. I can't handle the way I feel about you, knowing that you will always leave me for the next gig in the next town. I've never been good at goodbyes.. so you should probably just go."

My subconscious soaked up her beauty and stored it away for later, when I would need to recall her image to get me through the lonely nights, but my thinking mind was absolutely blank. I couldn't manage to form any words.. all I could do was stare at her. She stayed where she was when I managed to blink a few times and stumble to my feet. I wanted to go to her, to hug her, to feel her in my arms one last time. The look on her face stopped me. As much as I was hurting, the utter desolation on her tear streaked face had to make what I was feeling a cakewalk compared to her emotions plainly written on her lovely features. She tried to smile an encouraging smile, but it didn't quite reach her red rimmed brown eyes.

"I can't say goodbye," I managed to choke out around the lump in my throat... swallowing down my own tears. I knew if I let the waterworks go here, she would crumble, and I couldn't do that to her... not on top of everything else. She shook her head slightly, trying to stay strong.

"I don't expect you to," she whispered, struggling to hold in her own emotions. "And please, don't. Just... go."

With one last look, I tripped my way to her door, fumbled with the chain and the locks, and let myself into the hallway, closing the door behind me.

I don't remember making my way down to the street. I just remember getting to the curb and hailing a cab. As I climbed in, I braved one look up to where I knew her window was on the third floor. The curtain fell back into place as I shut the car door, and I knew that she'd been watching me go.

"Where to, Mister?" The cabby croaked out in a gruff voice, smelling of cigarettes and some cheap cologne that had long since turned sour with body odors and sweat. I sat back against the backseat and fought to breathe, swallowing repeatedly.

"The parking lot behind Cafe Cocoa." I dug in my wallet and threw a hundred dollar bill over the seat. "I have no reason to rush." I managed to whisper as I felt the tears track down my cheeks. "I have nothing to get back to."

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><p><strong>I know, I know.. painful, wasn't it? Just a little angst.. because all relationships have it.. it's unavoidable. But, for those of you that can't handle it, I promise, that was as bad as it gets in my story.. because nothing is worse than a break up.. right? Stay tuned... the best is yet to come, I promise! <strong>

**Many thanks to those of you who have placed this story on alerts and in your favorites list, and most of all, for adding me to your favorite author's lists! That is so very humbling to me.. especially being a new author. The thing I live for is reviews.. and I will continue to beg for them at the end of every chapter. Many, MANY thanks to those of you who continue to review for me. You are the ones who make me want to keep writing. **

**Follow me on aequusnodiem on Twitter for updates and chit chat!**


	11. Chapter 11 Drastic Measures

This chapter is told from Jasper's point of view.

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><p>Two months this has been going on.<p>

For two months, I have watched Edward mope around like a member of his family has died. I can't stand it anymore. Something has to be done.

Sure, I pretend to be a complete asshole, and I know that he doesn't like me as well as he does Emmett because of it, but, that doesn't mean that I don't care about what happens to him. We've been through entirely too much over the years for me to not be sensitive to how he is feeling right now.

Yeah, I'm sensitive... whatever. Shut up.

When the alarm went off for the six a.m. roll out the morning after the, uh... eventful... night in Nashville, we all climbed out of our bunks to have breakfast before we got on the road - all of us that is, except Edward. He came stumbling through the bus door, red eyed, white faced and looking like a Zombie who'd just returned from a night on the town, all sick as shit from eating too many bad brains. If he had barfed on my naked feet, it wouldn't have surprised me at all.

Without saying a word to, or looking at anyone, Edward climbed into his bunk, pulled the curtain closed, and that was all he wrote for the rest of the day. He didn't even come out for food. In fact, the only time I saw him at all that first day was when he had to go and take a piss. Then, he came out, went to the bathroom, and then immediately climbed back into his bunk and closed himself in. That was it.

When we rolled into Vegas about twenty four hours later, Emmett and I knocked on his bunk wall to see if he wanted to go out to find some food with us and the rest of the crew. He didn't even pull back his curtain and still never said a word.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that since she didn't show up with a suitcase in hand, it was obvious that Bella was probably the cause of his depression. Damn. I knew he was in pain, but I wasn't sure what to say to him. I'm a dude, for crying out loud. I'm not good with this emotional bullshit.

Anyway.. we got through the Vegas show, somehow, and then back to California, and Edward managed to make it through the last show on our tour.. although I know it was really hard on him. He didn't smile, he didn't flirt with any of the fan girls or laugh with us on the stage. He just did his job, stripped off whatever instrument he happened to be playing when the show ended, and walked off stage, leaving Emmett and I standing there gaping at each other like a couple of stupid fish.

I'd been all for getting up in his face and demanding to know what had happened, and why he was acting the way he was over this girl. I mean, she was just a girl. There are tons of them out there. What made her so special to him? It wasn't like any of us couldn't have our pick of them at any show. But Emmett literally backed me against a wall and told me that if I did, he was going to treat me like a wishbone. I knew the huge son of a bitch well enough to know that he was serious, and that he'd have no problems making me a soprano for the rest of my life. So you'd better believe I kept my trap shut. For once.

But, now, I'd had enough. I couldn't sit around and let him do this anymore. I'd never seen any guy act like this over a woman. He had probably dropped at least twenty pounds that he didn't have to lose. With the dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping, and his pasty, untanned skin from hiding in his house all the time, he looked like a damn vampire or something. It was just ... unnatural, dammit. I was seriously thinking about taking away his Man Card.

After Emmett and I had finished our practice - Edward hadn't been to more than three since we got off the big tour - I told him that I would call him later, and went out and climbed into my truck. After a short internal debate, I decided that now would be as good of a time as any to confront Edward and see if I could jolt him out of the stupor that he'd been in since we left Nashville.

I didn't bother to call because I knew he probably wouldn't answer the phone. He was good about not doing that lately. So, I just drove my ass on over to his house in Beverly Hills and pulled up in the vast driveway next to his pretty dark blue Vanquish. As always when I managed to get a look at his 'baby', I had to just whistle. Whatever else he was lately... Eddie still great taste in cars.

Walking up the walk way to the front door, I tried the knob and finding it unlocked, I just walked on in. Emmett and I were usually always welcome his house, so it was common for us to just show up whenever we felt like it. I hoped that was still the rule these days.

Looking around the living space, I didn't see him immediately, so I walked through the huge industrial style kitchen to Edward's version of a 'man cave'. It mostly consisted of about twelve different musical instruments, computer, a soundboard and mixer, some huge ass speakers, a few monitors, several mics and a massive flat screen television. Several comfy leather sofa's sat around the room, and framed live show pictures from our photographer that he'd turned into posters of our little band graced the walls. I was flattered, although I'd never admit it out loud, that he even had one or two of me up there, doing my thing, beating the absolute hell out of the skins.

Not finding him there, I turned around for the next logical place. Stopping at the fridge, I pulled open the door, knowing that Edward would have beer in there, and I had the distinct feeling that I was going to need one. Maybe two. Twisting the top off the bottle and throwing it on the counter, I walked out of the kitchen and into the entry way heading for the big spiral stair case. Jogging quickly up the stairs, I paused outside his bedroom door for a moment, feeling slightly uncomfortable about just barging in his private space.

"Eddie?" I called, and knocked a few times loudly. "You in there, man?"

"Yeah, Jasper. I'm on the deck. Come on out." came his muffled reply. I was surprised. He sounded almost normal. Turning the knob, I walked on in and headed for the sliding french doors that separated his room from the outside world. I found him sitting on the bench seat built into the railing that surrounded the vast raised deck connected to the upper story and roof of the house. His cell phone was sitting on the bench next to him, like he was afraid to let it get too far away in case he got a call. This was his favorite place to come and think, I knew, but I didn't think it was a good idea for him to be spending so much damn time out here. He'd thought about shit enough.

"So," I began, not exactly sure what I was going to say now that I was actually here. "What's doing with you lately? Everything alright, these days?" I sat down on the lounge chair opposite where Eddie sat and just waited. I'd thrown it out there, now I just had to wait. What else could I do?

"I've just been thinking." He sighed without looking me. I raised an eyebrow.

_Well, no shit, Sherlock._

"Yeah, you've been doing a lot of that lately." I snarked, trying to keep my temper in check. I hate Emo Edward worse than anything else, and I'd had to put up with more than my share of him for the last two months. I was so over him. "Come to any conclusions?" I leaned back, took a pull on the beer, and stared hard at him. "Find a cure for Cancer yet? Manage to figure out Capone's location?"

He just sighed again. "I can't expect you to understand, Jasper. You've never felt about a girl the way that I feel about Bella."

Well, he _was_ right about that one. "Have you called her? Emailed? Texted? Made any attempt to Talk to her at all since we left Nash?" He shook his head to the negative.

"No, I haven't."

"Why not?" Now I was confused. Just because there was distance there, didn't mean that they would never see each other again. Stuff like that worked out all the time with couples. "It's not like you'll never see her again? We are in and around Nashville several times during the course of a tour."

"I know. But I just can't do that to her. I can't expect her to wait for me.. not knowing when I will be back in town again, or for how long." He finally glanced at me, and his face was sad. I felt my stomach twist for him and frowned. _Dammit, Eddie, don't pull this shit on me. _"I never thought I would feel as much for her as I do, Jazz. But, I think I honestly love her."

_Oh shit_. _Danger, Will Robinson!_

I chugged the last of my beer, and set the empty bottle on the slide out table attached to the lounger. "Hey man, do you think I could have another one? I just left practice with Em and I'm pretty parched." Edward glanced over at me and frowned, surprised, I'm sure, that I didn't just get up and get myself another one, like I usually would.

"Uh, sure, Jazz... I'll be right back." he stood up, snatched up my dead soldier, and walked into his bedroom.

I knew I had to work fast. The second he was out of sight, heading down the stairs, I jumped up and grabbed his cell phone. Scrolling quickly through the list of names, I wracked my brain trying to remember what Bella's last name was. Did I even know it? Shit. I couldn't remember it. Glancing up and trying to gauge my time remaining, I looked under the list of all calls. Bingo. I knew he'd never erase the evidence of her calling him. Damn he was such a girl. Pulling out my own phone, I punched the number in, hit save, slipped my phone back into my pocket and cleared the screen on his phone before setting it down. Hearing him coming up the stairs, I stepped a ways back and up to the railing, pretending to be enjoying the scenery.

Coming up behind me, Edward bumped my shoulder with the beer. "Here ya go, man. Enjoy." I smirked at him and took a long pull off the beer before realizing that I was still drinking alone.

"You're not having one?"

"Nope. I can't drink. It just depresses me."

I snorted. "You mean, it gets worse than this?"

"Dickhead."

"Pussy."

He chuckled quietly before coming up and standing next to me at the railing. We talked a little more about bullshit stuff, nothing really important, and then about some gigs we had coming up, as well as our CD release party that we had booked in a week. That gave me an idea.

About an hour later, I decided it was time for me to go, and he walked me downstairs and out to my truck. As I walked past it, I couldn't help but admire his car as she sat there gleaming in the setting sunlight. The house and the car were the only two things he had ever splurged on with all our successes. Emmett and I couldn't say the same thing. Emmett had an affinity for collecting guitars, which, obviously, is not cheap, and I was always broke and never knew where the money went. I certainly didn't have anything fancy to show for spending it.

As I climbed into my truck, I hooked a thumb over to where the Vanquish sat. "You ever going to let me drive her?" I joked. Edward glanced over his shoulder and then back at me.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" He hit me in the arm and smiled at me, the first real smile I'd seen on his face since we had pulled out of Nashville.. I flipped him off and started up my truck.

"I'll catch ya later, Eddie."

"Yeah, see ya in a few days for practice."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

He flipped me off back. "Yeah. I'll be there.

I drove down out of his neighborhood and looked at my dash clock and calculated the time difference. Pulling over to the side of the road, I shut off my truck and dug out my cell phone. Taking a deep breath, I ran over the words I wanted to say in my head before I keyed up the screen and hit "send".

One ring. Two rings. Three Rings. Then, a soft, confused female voice answered the phone, but it was the one I recognized, thankfully.

"Hello?" the single word she spoke sounding like a question. I knew she didn't recognize my number, and I was glad that she actually answered the phone. Most people didn't when they didn't know the number.

"Bella? It's me, Jasper. Edward's friend." to the surprised silence I said, "I really need to talk to you."

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><p><strong>Way to go Jasper! Do you think this is a good thing, or a bad thing, him calling up Bella? What will he say? At least we know the little smart ass has a heart, right? <strong>

**Many thanks, as always to those of you who keep on coming back and reading my little story. It means a lot that y'all have put me on alerts and in your favorite author's lists. As always, I appreciate the reviews that you take time to leave. I love to hear your take on what is going on, and your ideas on what might happen in the future chapter. You never know.. sometimes what you put might influence the way the story goes! **

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	12. Chapter 12 Shock Of A Lifetime

This chapter is told from Edward's point of view.

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><p>I ran a hand through my hair as I stood backstage waiting for the opening band to finish their set. Giving in to some inner edginess and hoping to work off some steam, I started pacing around the outer edge of the room. It wasn't too long before I recognized in my restlessness an old familiar feeling that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.<p>

I was actually nervous.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I was aware of Emmett watching me as he sat restringing his favorite guitar. He hated to put new strings on before a show, but he'd busted one during sound check, and turned the air blue with the words he spewed. In fact, I was pretty sure in the level of pissed off he'd reached in that moment, he even invented a few new ones. One or two of them even made Jasper's eyebrows go up.

"What's got you so keyed up, Eddie?" Emmett asked on my fifth or sixth circuit around the room. I glanced at him as he finished tightening the last string and started tugging on them to loosen and stretch them a little.

"Have you seen Jazz? Why isn't he here yet?" I shot the questions back at Em, not willing to admit that I was nervous about a gig for the first time years. "He's never late."

Emmett glanced at the clock on the wall and then at the door before looking back at me and shrugging. "I don't know. He said something about taking care of some business before the show, but that is all he said." He scratched his neck, his brows pulling down into a frown. "Between you and me, he's been acting pretty weird the last few days, have you noticed that?"

I nodded. Jasper had been acting strange all week.. like he was hiding something... some secret he didn't want us to know about. That in and of itself was odd because he couldn't keep a secret to save his life. But now he was damn near late to our gig when he was usually one of the first of us to get to the venues. Dammit. This is just something else I really don't need to deal with right now.

"Little bastard had better not be late," I muttered as I made yet another loop around the room. The crowd out front went crazy, clapping and chanting with the end of the opening bands song, and I ran my hand through my hair again, even more nervous with Jasper's absence than I was previously.

Finally, just when I was ready to pull _out_ my hair, Jasper came busting in through the back door, flushed, out of breath, and grinning like a wild man. I glanced at Emmett with a raised eyebrow, and he just shook his head and shrugged. Jasper's behavior was just as big of a mystery to him as it was to me.

"Where've you been, dickhead?" I asked as Jasper walked by and clapped me on the shoulder. He just shot me that half smirk of his and shook his head, tucking his shirt into his jeans as he walked over to the mirror to ruffle that blond hair into his trademark messy style.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Eddie. I just had a little business to attend to before the show." He sat down to throw a quick buff to the tops of his ever present cowboy boots. "You'll find out soon enough." I ground my teeth and growled at him. He just winked.

His vagueness both surprised and annoyed me. I hated secrets. Running the date through my mind, I tried to calculate if there was some anniversary or birthday that I had missed. Shit, it wasn't my birthday, was it? No.. it wasn't. Then what the hell did that little shit have going on?

Hearing the first band starting the opening licks of their last song, we all got drinks of water, went to the bathroom, and got prepared to walk out on that stage. The butterflies came back hard and strong when the last chord died away and the crowd exploded in applause and screams. The guys came through the side stage door, sweaty, smiling and totally exhausted, giving us high fives as they walked by.

Strapping on his guitar and adjusting the wireless unit at his back, Emmett walked up to me and threw an arm around my shoulder.

"You ready to do this, man? This is a big one for us."

I nodded, taking a deep breath, fighting down the bugs in my stomach. "Yeah. I'm ready."

Emmett chuckled. "Are you sure? Because.. you look like you're gonna barf." Jasper laughed and picked up his sticks, poking Emmett in the stomach with one of them.

"Leave him alone, Em. I don't want him hurling on my boots. I just cleaned them." And then he ducked neatly and danced out of the way, laughing, when Em threw a sloppy sideways punch his direction. "Missed me!"

"You know, punk, if I had wanted to actually hit you, I would have."

"I'm scared." Jazz rattled his sticks at Emmett.

"Damn right you are," Emmett snarked back. "You know I can break your scrawny ass in half..."

Usually their typical pre-show banter helped to calm and relax me. Tonight, it just helped to set me on edge even more. What I really wanted the most was to look out and see Bella standing in the crowd, smiling at me. But I knew that wasn't going to happen. Setting my mouth in a line of determination, I picked up my bass guitar and headed for the door.

"Shut up, assholes," I growled at both of them. "Let's do this."

The show went really well, considering how nervous and detached I felt from the whole thing. I made myself focus on the music, and tried to shake the butterflies that insisted on fluttering around my stomach long after the first song. In the past, when I would get nervous before a gig, I was able to shake them off and pour myself into the show by the second song. For some reason though, tonight they persisted, and I found myself fighting them all the way through the entire show, all the way up until the last few songs.

We were just starting the licks for the second to last song when I noticed a commotion out in the crowd near the back of the club by the Exit door. I tried to see what was going on, but the crowd of bodies blocked me, and from the angle where I stood behind my keyboard, I was only able to see the security guards pushing through the people trying to get to the core of the issue.

There were usually problems at just about every gig, especially when we played the bar style venues like this one was. We wanted to make our latest CD release a smaller, intimate concert, so we chose one of the clubs that was instrumental in our promotions when we were a band that was just starting out. And, as a result, people drank too much, and fights would break out. Luckily, this club boasted some of the best security in Hollywood.

We typically just played on through the drama, knowing that the bouncers could handle whatever came up. It wasn't our job to handle the crowd. Sure, sometimes it was like a car wreck and you just couldn't help but look, but generally, we just played to the fans who were still watching us and not the trouble going on elsewhere in the club.

This time, however, Emmett's guitar solo suddenly screeched to a halt. When I looked up to see what was going on, I saw that he was staring into the melee at the back of the club, a hard frown on his face. In the next second, my best friend popped his guitar strap, and literally threw his favorite Strat to the floor and jumped off the front of the stage, somehow managing to find a hole big enough for his immense frame to land in without killing the girls that had been grouped in front of him. He was immediately lost in the throng of bodies surrounding him as he shoved his way to the back of the bar.

The beat of the drums suddenly stopped, and I heard a wild scramble to my right. An instant later, Jasper flashed by me, also leaping out into the crowd, moving so fast that he hit the ground in front of the stage before his drumsticks clattered to the floor behind me.

Everything happened so fast, I was caught totally unawares, and I was left standing on the stage totally alone behind my keyboard, my mouth hanging open in surprise.

Squinting through the bright lights that nearly always blinded us while we were on stage, I finally saw Emmett's massive frame in the crowd, his body positioning telling me that he had someone shoved up against a wall and was holding them there while two other bouncers were trying, and failing, to pull him away. That was enough to zap me to my senses and have me scrambling from behind the keyboard and leaping off the stage in a dead run, pushing through the crowd to see what the hell was going on.

I couldn't see Jasper, but I knew he was in the mess somewhere, and once I got down in the press of humanity, I found it was much harder to see where I was going. I shoved bodies out of my way without apologies, trying to keep my eyes locked on the place that I had last spotted Emmett. I couldn't imagine what on earth had caused my band mates to bail off the stage like that and get involved in what was normally security's job, but I damn sure wasn't going to stand by and just let it happen without discovering what was so important that they both felt the need to get in the middle of it.

I managed to find the edge of where the crowd had made a loose circle to be able to give space to everything that had been happening during the drama. What I saw there was enough to drive the breath from my lungs and freeze me where I stood.

The muscles of his back standing out in sharp relief against the sweat plastered shirt that he was wearing, Emmett was snarling in the face of the guy that he still had pinned up against the wall. Despite the best efforts of the two big bouncers that were continuing to try to pull him away, he was planted like a tree, unmoving and unmovable. When Em shifted to press the arm he had at the guys throat in tighter, I was finally able to see the face of the dude that was responsible for inspiring such murderous rage in my best friend.

Jake.

Blinking like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car and still not over the surprise of seeing Bella's ex husband at our gig in California, I shifted my eyes downward and found yet one more shock waiting for me.

Jasper was there, sitting on the floor, cradling a woman's dark haired head in his lap, his shirt front and arms covered in blood. I couldn't tell if she was the one injured, or if the blood was Jasper's. Despite the hair covering her face, it was clear that she was unconscious and he was supporting her head to keep it from laying on the dirty bar floor. His face as he looked up at me was pale white, and his pupils were so dilated, there was none of his normal green still showing.

I felt my heart stop in the face of his absolute horror.

"Edward," Jasper whispered. Despite the noise of the crowd, I heard him so loud and clear it was as if he were shouting at me. He lifted the hand that was supporting the back of the woman's head in his lap, and it was slicked red with blood as he gently moved the hair back from the face I couldn't see. "It's Bella."

There was a roaring in my ears that drowned out all other sound, and I suddenly found myself on my knees, gasping for breath. It felt like it took forever, but I finally managed to force my body to move, and I crawled my way across the filthy bar floor, sticky and stained with God only knew what, until I managed to make it to where Jasper sat holding Bella.

Bella. Oh my God.

Jasper quickly scrambled out of the way, supporting Bella's head until I could slide underneath her, holding her as gently as I could. My frantic eyes watched her eyelids as they fluttered, and as she moaned, I was aware of something warm and sticky on my hands. It dawned on me that the blood that had been coating Jasper's hands and shirt was from Bella, not him.

I leaned forward as close as I could manage and whispered, "Bella, honey.. stay with me, OK? Stay with me." She moaned again in reply, and I was fiercely glad that she could hear me and knew that I was there with her.

The next few minutes were pretty much a blur. I barely paid attention to anything other than the slow rise and fall of Bella's chest as she took her next breath. Jasper leaned down and put a hand on my shoulder at one point to tell me that the ambulance was there, and the EMT's were coming in with a stretcher. I nodded absently, noting in passing that there was no more blood on his hand, and continued to focus on Bella's breathing.

I was gripped under my arms and pulled to my feet once the EMT's arrived and took charge of Bella, strapping her onto the gurney and rolling her out into the waiting ambulance. I vaguely remembered saying yes when one of the EMT's asked me if I was responsible for Bella. Emmett walked next to me, basically supporting me as I walked out and climbed into the ambulance for the ride to the emergency room. Crazily enough, my wild thought at that moment was that I was surprised that he wasn't in handcuffs for the way that he'd acted when the bouncers had tried to pull him off Jake.

Inside the quickly moving ambulance, I held her hand as the tech worked over Bella - setting up an IV and and taking her vitals - and and I could not take my eyes off her face. When the tech rolled her head over to check the quick bandage they had wrapped her with to stem the flow of blood from the head wound, her soft features caused me to suck in my breath, and for the first time since Emmett had leaped off the stage, I wondered why in the world she was even in California.

"Bella, sweetheart, hang in there. Stay strong for me." I whispered to her, running my hand gently along her beautiful face.

Absently, like I was seeing it from someone else's eyes, I noticed blood dried on the hand that caressed her face. Looking down, I noticed that I had it on both hands, but luckily, unlike Jasper, I didn't have any on my clothes. I couldn't stand looking at it, and quietly asked the tech for a towel. She quickly wet a clean white towel with some bottled water she produced from somewhere, and handed it over silently, quiet understanding on her face. I cleaned my hands and handed it back to her, where she instantly tossed into a garbage bin.

I was never so happy to get to an emergency room as I was when we finally pulled up to the glass sliders, and the back doors of the ambulance popped open to allow the EMT's to slide the gurney out and rush Bella inside. I followed more slowly, still in shock over everything that had been happening over the last several minutes.

Once inside, I was pulled aside by an orderly, and asked information on Bella that I really couldn't provide. I think that I tried to tell them that we really hadn't known each other that long, that we were just dating, but I don't think that she actually heard me, and I'm not honestly sure what words actually came out of my mouth. She took my name, said that was fine, that they would get what information they could from the wallet in the purse that someone had thought to pick up at the scene of the accident, and asked me to wait in the waiting room.

Collapsing into the uncomfortable chair, I hunched forward with my head in my hands, my elbows on my knees. My mind was running a million miles an hour, driving me to the brink of insanity by showing me images of Bella laying on the floor, her head cradled in Jasper's lap, her blood on his hands and shirt.

I had been sitting in the chair torturing myself for twenty minutes that felt like two days, when the doctor dressed in dark blue scrubs came out asking for me. I stood and acknowledged that I was Edward Cullen, and he stepped forward, the expression on his face a curious mixture of relief and professional caution.

"How is she, doctor? How's Bella?" I managed to whisper in a voice loud enough to be heard. He took a breath and motioned for me to sit down in the chair I'd just vacated, and sat next to me in an uncomfortable chair of his own.

"We have her stabilized, and everything seems to be fine. When she fell, she apparently took a nasty blow to the back of her head from one of the bar tables that gave her a concussion." He consulted a clipboard that I just noticed he was carrying, and then glanced back up at me. "A fella named Emmett gave the police officers a run down on what had happened to her at the scene, and that helped us to treat her effectively. We don't foresee that the blow to her head will result in any permanent trauma to her brain, and she shouldn't experience any problems with her pregnancy as a result of this injury, but we are going to keep her for observation, just in case." He dropped the papers back down and tucked the clipboard back under his arm as I stared at him without blinking.

"Mr. Cullen? Are you alright?"

I couldn't say anything. My brain latched on to that one word, and kept repeating it over and over again.

Pregnancy. Pregnancy. Pregnancy.

Bella was pregnant.

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><p><strong>HA! I threw a little twist or two in there you weren't expecting, huh? Looks like Jasper's gamble to call Bella might have paid off, but I don't think it turned out quite the way he was expecting! Damn that Jake! Always showing up where he's not wanted! <strong>

**Talk about a shock! I'm glad that Edward was sitting down for the doctor's update, aren't you!**

**Follow me on Twitter at aequusnoxdiem for updates and chit chat! **

**New with this chapter until the end of the story - For those of you that can't wait to find out what happens next, everyone that leaves a review will be messaged a few "teaser" paragraphs from the following chapter! **


	13. Chapter 13 Revelations

I'm not exactly sure how long I sat there, frozen in shock at hearing the news that I was going to be a father. It must have been long enough to cause the doctor some concern, because he reached out and put a careful hand on my shoulder.

"Mr. Cullen? Are you OK?" He asked, his voice heavily laden with concern. When I was able to make myself look up at him, I saw that his kind blue eyes were wide with worry for me. I managed a half-hearted smile and nodded.

"Yes, doctor. I'm sorry. I'm just very relieved that there won't be any problems with Bella or the -" I swallowed hard. "- the - baby." I reached out and smiled a little bigger as he shook my hand. "Thank you for taking such good care of them." The doctor released my hand, smiled and patted my shoulder.

"You're welcome. It's my job to take good care of people.. and I enjoy my job." He stood and tucked his clipboard under his arm again. I stood with him and shoved my hands in my pockets to hide their sudden shaking. "She should be awake in a few hours. You're welcome to go in and sit with her if you'd like. She's been moved to recovery room four." He smiled once more, and walked back the way he'd came from.

Once he had disappeared down the hallway, my knees decided that they weren't going to support me any longer, and I landed solidly back down in the uncomfortable hospital chair I had vacated just moments before.

A baby. Bella was having a baby. Could that have been the reason that she showed up at the club tonight? To let me know that I was going to be a dad? My mind rebelled at that thought instantly. No. That wasn't the reason. She wouldn't have come down to a show to do that. Something like that would have been done in a more private setting. We hadn't even spoken since the night I walked out of her apartment. She'd told me that she couldn't deal with having a rock star for a boyfriend, and I had respected her wishes... despite the fact that the depression brought on by loosing her damn near killed me. No... she had to have some other reason for showing up at the gig tonight. I just wish I knew what it was.

A sudden thought occurred. Jasper. Jasper knew something about it. He had to. He had been acting so strange all week... secretive. My gut screamed at me that he knew something about her unexpected appearance tonight. Had Bella reached out to him? What the hell was going on here?

As if summoned by my thoughts of him, the object of my musings came rushing through the hospital's emergency room doors, his head on a swivel, obviously looking for me. Following close behind him was Emmett, also looking as though he was on a mission. I grimaced when I saw the dried dark stains on Jasper's shirt front and sleeves, knowing that it was Bella's blood, and hating to see it there.

"Edward! How is Bella? Is she going to be alright?" Emmett spotted me first and shot off the questions before Jasper could get his mouth open. I nodded, keeping my seat, not sure if my knees would allow me to stand.

"Yeah, the doctor said that there wasn't any permanent damage. She just got a really good knock on the head and a concussion." I confirmed for them, running a hand through my hair and then down my face. I looked up at them as they joined me on the hard chairs. "My guess is that they are going to be keeping her for observation. Did you explain what was going on to Eric?" The owner of the venue we were playing tonight was a long time friend, and I was sure that he would be cool with the premature end to our show if he knew the reasoning behind it.

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I took care of it before we left. He said not to worry about a thing and that he would lock up the club with all of our shit there, and we could just come and get it tomorrow afternoon." He looked down and plucked at the dried blood on his sleeve as if he was seeing it for the first time and was uncomfortable with it being there. "He said to tell you that he hopes your girl is alright."

I turned to Emmett. "What happened to Jake? Did he get arrested?" Emmett surprised me by actually growling like a pissed off dog.

"No. After the bouncers managed to force me to let go of him, the son of a bitch slipped out of the door in all the commotion when the ambulance got there to pick up Bella." Then he frowned so fiercely, I was afraid his face would stick that way. "If only they'd let me hang onto him, he'd be in jail right now." I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like he muttered _'or dead'_ under his breath.

"Dammit." I muttered, my hands tightening into fists. "Something is going to have to be done about that asshole. I'm not going to allow him to threaten Bella again."

Jasper nodded. "Yeah. If that crazy bastard followed her all the way here from Nashville, what else is he capable of?"

His question reminded me of my prior train of thought. "Speaking of that, Jazz," I pinned him with a stare so hard, he begin to fidget uncomfortably. "What do you know of why she even showed up here in the first place?" He wouldn't even look at me. "I know you know something about it."

"Yeah.. why is that, Jazz? Am I going to have to knock you over, or are you going to spill it on your own?" Emmett smacked him on the back of the head before he had a chance to duck. Jasper grabbed his head and cringed away from Em, finally looking back at me with guilt written all over his face.

"I called her," He murmured, still plucking at the dark spots on his sleeve.

"What? You did?" I asked, confused. "When? How'd you get her number?"

"What the fuck, Jasper! How the hell-?" Emmett snarled at the same time I spoke. Jasper looked back and forth at both of us for a few moments before he sighed in defeat.

"Look, I thought I was helping, OK?" He glanced up at me, and when I remained silent and just stared at him, waiting, he continued. "I was worried about you. You've been so depressed. I thought that if I called her, and told her what you were going through, maybe she would call you, and the two of you could at least talk. And, maybe that would help."

He stood up and paced around the waiting room. "I never in a million _years_ thought that she would hop a plane and come here! But she text me when her plane landed, and said she was coming to the show to surprise you. I met her out front... that's why I was late coming in. I was happy... I figured that you two could go somewhere afterwards and work some shit out." He stopped pacing to stand a few feet away from me and ran his hand through his blond hair, causing it to stick out in all directions. "But then all hell broke out at the gig."

Oh, she surprised me alright. "How did you even get her number, Jasper?" I asked, still confused about that part of his story. Jasper blushed all the way to his hair line.

"When I came over to visit you after Emmett and I practiced that night," he said, stepping a safe distance away from Em as he did so. I shot Emmett a look as he muttered under his breath, watching Jasper with narrowed eyes. There must be some side story between the two of them that I was unaware of. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what it was.

I frowned, thinking back to that night. "OK. But I never gave you her number. I was pretty out of it, I know, but I would have remembered that!" _Wouldn't I?_

Again he flushed a dark red with guilty embarrassment, which was so unlike him. Jasper was never sorry for anything he did. Ever. His personal motto was, 'I'd rather beg for forgiveness, than ask for permission.' He usually just did it and worried about the consequences later. Seems like now was one of those 'later' times.

"When I asked you to get that beer for me, I poked through your phone and got her number, and then called her on the way home." He admitted softly. When my eyebrows went up in surprise, he rushed on with, "I swear, I was only trying to help. I just wanted her to call you."

I sat quiet for a moment, watching him. He held my gaze steadily, and I knew I couldn't be mad at him, despite how it had turned out. His heart, small though it might be, was in the right place. Hell, there was even a part of me that was touched that he cared that much. Not that I was going to ever admit that to him, but yeah. Besides.. without him calling her, and her showing up here, I might never have known that I was going to be a dad.

Holy shit. I hadn't even told them that yet. I glanced up at the two of them, and Emmett was still staring down Jasper like he would like to take a chunk out of his ass. Jasper was still watching me, waiting for my reaction to the fact that he had snooped through my cell phone. Now wasn't the time for that little gem to be thrown out there. Not yet. Besides, I wanted to go and see Bella.

"It's OK, Jazz. I understand why you did what you did. I don't hold you responsible for this." He took a deep breath, and his body visibly relaxed. "But thank you... for calling her. We do need to talk." I sighed. "The silence between us has gone on for way too long."

Standing in the door way, I watched Bella as she slept. My heart ached to see the white bandage wrapped in and around her beautiful, thick brown hair. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, walking into that hospital room and forcing myself to sit down in the chair next to her bed. The nurse, who introduced herself as "Cindy" that had come in a few moments prior, said that they thought that she would be well enough to be released within a day or so, and that she would be the one taking care of Bella. They did want to keep her for observation, like I figured, to make sure that the concussion she had suffered wouldn't cause her or her unborn fetus any problems. I was planning on staying here and watching over her until they signed her out. No way was that asshole ex-husband of hers getting anywhere near her with me around. Not anymore.

And I wasn't going anywhere. Not if I could help it.

Jasper and Emmett had left at just after four in the morning, knowing that I needed some time with Bella to myself. Jasper was dying to go home and shower and get out of the bloody clothes - his reminder of what had happened tonight - but before he left, he asked if he could come back and check on us once she was awake. I told him that he was welcome to come back any time, and I meant it. I owed him a lot for taking care of Bella at the club. It was a debt I'm not sure I could ever repay, but I would certainly try.

Emmett was planning on going to the police station to make sure that they filed a report on Jake for what happened at the club tonight since in all the ruckus of trying to get Bella to the hospital, the formal statement from him on Jake's involvement was over looked. Now was as good of a time as any to make sure that the police were on the lookout for that big, violent bastard here in Hollywood. He was just as worried as I was about Jake being out and on the loose in our city after the shit he pulled tonight with Bella. It had reached a whole new level now.

I sat there for several hours, not even tired, just watching her sleep. Suddenly worried that she had slept for too long, I glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning. That wasn't too soon to wake her up, was it?

Reminding myself that she was going to be alright, I reached and took her sleep limp hand in mine, softly rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. She moved a little bit and moaned, and I squeezed her hand gently, letting her know I was there with her.

"Bella, honey... It's me." I whispered, dying to see her beautiful brown eyes. Hearing my voice, she rolled her head to the side, and after blinking a few times, she was finally able to focus on me. And then she smiled. My heart melted all over my ribcage.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey," I whispered back. "How's your head?"

She thought about that for a second. "Well, it's still attached to my neck, so I guess that's a good start." She brought her free hand up to her forehead and grimaced, fingering the bandages there. "Hurts like hell though."

"Do you want me to call the nurse? They can probably bring you something for pain..." I offered, turned to reach for the call button. She squeezed my hand to stop me.

"No, I'm OK. I don't want to sleep anymore."

We were quiet for a time, just looking at each other. Seeing her again after so long was like being granted a drink of water after dying in the desert. I couldn't drag my eyes away from the beauty of her face. She blushed a little, and I realized that she was probably wondering what I was thinking. Maybe now was a good time to ask her why she was here in California.

"Bella, why are you here in California?" I asked her quietly. She flushed a little darker, and closed her eyes for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. "Is it because Jasper called you about me?" She glanced up at me quickly and then back down to where her hand was still captured in my own. She stayed silent though, as if unwilling to get him into trouble.

I decided to let her and Jasper off the hook for the moment. Without thinking it through first, in case I lost my nerve, I brought up a subject that was infinitely more pressing to me. "Or, did you come to tell me about the baby?"

Shock was written so plainly on her face, it might as well have been stamped in red on her forehead. Bella gasped, yanked her hand out of mine, and locked her eyes on my face.

"What the hell are you talking about, Edward?" She forced herself to choke out. "What baby?"

Oh shit. _She_ didn't even know yet.

_Way to go, Eddie._

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is Dedicated in memory of <span>Cindy Pachis<span>, a dear friend who passed away suddenly in her home on 2-22-2012. She was a beloved daughter, wife, mother and grandmother.. as well as a special friend to all who knew her. You will be missed, Cindy.**


	14. Chapter 14 Rock Star Entourage

Bella sat and stared at me, her expression one of frozen horror. For a split second, I was annoyed; would having my baby be THAT terrible? Then I realized what I was thinking. Shit. I wasn't even sure that _I_ was OK with the idea of being a father.

"What are you talking about, Edward?" Bella demanded again. "What baby?"

I stared at her for a few seconds longer, fighting and then losing the battle not to drag my hand through my hair.. which was sorely in need of a good cutting. As my hair fell back down into my eyes, I took a deep breath and figured out a starting point for this conversation.

"Before we get into that, I need to know what happened at the club tonight. That will get us to where we are now, and we really need the background to figure this out." I sat back in my chair and watched as she stared back at me, several expressions running across her beautiful face.

Confusion. Fear. Pain. Anger.

"I went down to the club to see you. To surprise you." Bella started, her voice little more than a whisper. "Jasper called me last week, out of the blue, and told me that you were depressed, and needed to see me." She glanced out the window, a far away look in her eyes told me that she wasn't with me at that moment, but looking into the past.

"I was missing you something fierce. I can't lie. So, I booked a flight that same night. When I got here, I text Jasper to let him know that I was here, and that I would be at the show tonight. He was so excited." She stopped and her eyes refocused on my face for a brief moment. "He really does love you.. even if he tries to act like a hard ass all the time. He's a good guy, deep down.

"Anyway, I was leaning against the wall at the back of the club watching the show, when someone grabbed my arm. I looked up and saw that it was Jake. It goes without saying that I was shocked as hell to see him... to know that he had followed me to California. Who does that shit?" She ground her teeth for a second, obviously seeing Jake's face in her mind as she spoke.

_I would like to know the answer to that one myself. _I thought,my hands clenched in a sudden itching rage to get the son of a bitch by the throat. Somehow, I stayed silent, not wanting to distract her and wanting her to continue her story, since I had only came in on the last horrible seconds of it.

"I tried to jerk away from him, but he held on, saying something about us needing to go and talk... that we could work it out if I only gave him the chance to explain. I tried again to pull away from him, seeing that the security guards were coming to see what was going on, and the idea of causing at scene at your show when you didn't even know I was there wasn't appealing . That was the last thing I wanted." She took a breath and stopped for a second, gathering her emotions, getting herself under control.

"Jake got really mad and pushed me. I tried to keep my balance, but I tripped on someones foot. I fell backwards and hit my head really hard against a table." She paused for a moment, her hand unconsciously reaching up to touch the bandages on her head. "The last thing that I really remember was seeing Emmett grab Jake and shove him against the wall." Bella looked up at me and her brown eyes focused on mine. "And I saw your worried face... for just a split second." She looked around the hospital room, dropping her hand back into her lap. "I woke up the next time in here while someone was taking blood from me." Then she looked back at me, a frown on her face. "Now. Your turn. What's this about a baby?"

Great. Now it was my turn to fidget uncomfortably. I really should have kept my mouth shut, just not said anything and let the doctors tell her. But, I didn't. _Stellar move there, Eddie._

"All that I know is that the doctor came out to tell me that you were going to be alright, that there shouldn't be any lasting problems as a result of the concussion, and he said that there shouldn't be any problems with the baby either. That they were keeping you for observation, just to make sure. Probably that you don't miscarry, I would think." Her brows went up in surprise and I sat forward, touching her hand gently. "You really didn't know?"

Slowly, Bella shook her head, the blood leaving her face white as it really hit her what I had said. I caught and held my breath as she sat silent for a moment, digesting this monster news. Finally, she took my cold hand in her warm one, and I was able to breathe again. "No, Edward. I honestly didn't know. They must have found out here when they took my blood." She touched the IV in her arm and then looked back up at me, her face slightly pale. "What on earth do we do now? Are we ready to be parents?" Unshed tears shimmered in her eyes as she spoke. "Are you ready to be a father?"

I squeezed her hand gently. "I don't honestly know. I can't think straight about that yet. I do know that I _will_ be there for you, whatever happens." I took a breath and nodded at her. "But, we have some time to talk about it and get it all worked out. Try not to worry about it for the moment, if you can. We just need to worry about getting you out of the hospital." I smiled again at her, trying to take my own advice, as difficult as it was. "I'm just so glad that you're here."

Hesitant at first, not sure that she wanted to let that subject go, she slowly smiled back. And then she surprised me by chuckling. "Even with everything that has happened, I am too! I really, really missed you." She was quiet for a moment, unable to look at me as she paused. "I was wrong to send you away. I should have never done that." She met my eyes again and suddenly looked up over my head, her smile back with a vengeance.

There was a quiet rap of knuckles on the door frame behind us. I turned to look, and standing in the doorway in a fresh change of clothes was Jasper... morning shower wet hair, that crooked smile, and an abundance of caution showing in his green eyes.

"This is the one time in my life that I can honestly say that I hope I'm _not_ interrupting anything," He said in a soft chuckle, smiling back at Bella, but then looking at me. "Is it OK if I come in? The nurses sent me back... said you were in here and that she was awake."

I nodded and let go of Bella's hand, standing up to reach out with my own hand as he walked forward. Surprise flitted across his face as he grasped my hand tightly and shook it. Letting go rather awkwardly, he walked forward and leaned over to kiss Bella lightly on the cheek. Her face lit up with astonishment at his action, and I was pretty sure that mine did as well. This was so not the Jasper that I knew.

Ruffling his hand through his drying hair, he grinned down at her. "So, how're you feeling, Miss Bella?"

Listening to him, I suddenly found it odd how his fading southern accent always seem to come out stronger whenever he addressed her. What was it about Bella that brought out his buried Texas roots? It's not like there was a Southern Gentleman buried in there somewhere, just dying to get out. Or a gentleman at all, for that matter.

Bella smiled back up at Jasper. "All things considered, I'm doing alright." She glanced at me, raising her eyebrows in a silent question. I knew what she was asking, and I shook my head slightly, letting her know that as of yet, he didn't know about the baby. "The doctors apparently say that I can get out of here soon."

"Well, that's good news. How long were you planning on staying in town for?" Jasper asked as he pulled up a spare chair and sprawled out next to the bed, his long, skinny legs stretched out in front of him. He looked like he was ready to set up camp there, and surprisingly, that didn't bother me like I figured it should. Bella seemed to enjoy his company and he made her smile. That was enough for me to allow him to stay for now. She and I would have plenty of time to talk about the future.

"Well, that was kind of up in the air, actually." She looked back and me and winked. "I wasn't really sure when I got here if I was even going to be welcome."

I barked out at laugh that surprised me as well as the two of them, but it felt good. I hadn't laughed in a long time. "Ha! As if I would ever turn you away!" She rewarded me with a smile that made me dizzy. God, I loved her.

We sat there for about an hour, chatting about this and that, and I realized that for the first time in a long time, I was spending time with Jasper and I was enjoying myself. It seemed that he had locked up his normal inner smart ass for awhile - the reason that I tended to stay away from him outside of the band stuff - and he had both Bella and I laughing until my sides hurt. I wondered how long it would last, and I found myself hoping that he stayed this way.

Despite the rousing conversation, I noticed Bella's eyelids had drifted closed, and looked over at Jasper. He nodded and looked at his watch, standing up quietly.

"I should go and let her get some sleep. I'm just glad that she is alright." He reached over and patted my shoulder. "You should try and get some sleep while she does. You haven't slept at all."

I ran my hand through my hair and rubbed it down my face and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It might be the only time I get to sleep."

Jasper walked towards to the door, pulling out his car keys as he did and stopped in the hall way. "I'll check back later on tonight, if it's alright with you. Just to see how you're doing."

I smiled at him, standing up myself. "Sure, Jazz. Thanks." I paused for a moment and then shrugged. What the hell. "I owe you one."

He looked overwhelmed for a moment, and then smirked at me.

"Yeah, you do." Then he winked, and was gone.

I shook my head, smiling to myself. Still the smartass, but I liked him better now. So far.

Glancing over quickly to make sure that Bella was resting easily, I made my way over to the bed next to the window. Sitting down on it, I decided that it really didn't qualify as a bed so much as a cot, but it would work. As I stretched out, put my arm over my eyes and sighed, the full weight of my exhaustion hit me, and within a few breaths, I went out like a light.

I was dimly aware of the murmuring of low voices as I struggled back from the comatose state I'd been in. Yawning and stretching, it felt like I hadn't moved from the position I had been in for three days at least, and my back and neck popped so hard it made me wince. Ow, dammit.

"Well, well. Someones awake. Do you think he'll stop snoring now?" I heard an unfamiliar voice chuckle. "We could hear him all the way down the hall at the nurses station!" A much more familiar voice answered, her tone heavily amused.

"From all of my experience, possibly. It depends on if he is really awake or not." Bella laughed back.

Groggily I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "I don't snore."

Bella grinned at me from where she sat, fully dressed and propped up in her bed, letting the nurse - whose name I remembered was "Cindy"- take her vitals.

"Yes you do."

Seeing her sitting up, with a smile on her face brought me immediately fully awake. I laughed and walked over to the bed, grinning at the nurse who blushed and smiled back.

Finishing up what she was doing, Nurse Cindy busied herself with hanging Bella's clipboard of medical information back on the peg on the wall, and then headed for the door, shutting it softly behind her. I looked back at Bella and found her still smiling at me. I leaned over and kissed her gently, feeling my heart pound in my chest as I realized that was the first time I had kissed her in almost three months. Bella's hand came up and cupped the side of my face as her lips moved on mine, and my knees went weak. Feeling like a total pansy, I broke the kiss and had to sit on the edge of her bed to catch my breath and compose myself.

"Good evening, sleepy head." She chuckled, reaching out to twine her fingers in mine and squeeze my hand. Confused by her use of tense, I looked at the clock on the wall, and was staggered to realize that it was after five in the afternoon. I had slept all day.

"Oh my God, Bella. I'm so sorry! You should have had them wake me up!"

"And miss all that 'musical' racket you were making? Never!" She laughed, and then cocked her head to the side and looked at me, her warm brown eyes sparkling. "You know, I honestly don't remember you snoring before, in spite of what I told that nurse. You must have been really tired."

"I was extremely tired. Too much happened all at once." I reached up and stroked her forehead where they had removed her bandage. "When did they take this off? I'm glad to see it's gone."

She pushed her hair back from her neck and twisted sideways, showing me the smaller bandage that was taped behind her right ear. "Oh, there is still one there, covering the stitches, but at least it's not across my forehead anymore. That itched."

"Have they said anymore more about when you will get to leave? I'd like for you to come and stay with me for a few days." I shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was not a big deal when my entire body was hoping she would say yes. "I mean, if you want to."

"Quit being silly, Edward, of course I want to." She made a show of rolling her eyes. "Nurse Cindy said that I can leave whenever you are ready to take me home with you."

I relaxed and drank in the sight of her. After months of thinking I would never see her again, I kept experiencing moments when I was scared to shut my eyes, worried that she would disappear. That being with her, even in a hospital room after such a horrible event, would only turn out to be a dream. Or, in some cases, a nightmare.

Abruptly, she started to giggle, her gaze going over my should again, one hand covering her mouth. I couldn't resist and had to turn around to see what or who was making her laugh. In the small square window of her closed room door, my best friend had his face pressed up against the glass, smooshing his face so that his cheek and nose was pressed flat and pushed off to the side.

"Emmett, you big dork," I laughed, shaking my head. "Get your goofy ass in here."

His face disappeared from the glass and the door opened a crack. But then, nothing. I glanced at Bella, who shrugged in confusion of her own. Without warning, a hand was thrust through the door holding a small bouquet of three white roses tied with a yellow ribbon. Wearing a silly grin, the rest of my best friend followed the roses through the door, and we could all hear the laughter of the nurses standing around their station a few doors down.

"Flirting with the ladies, were you?" Bella laughed and accepted the roses with a smile as he nodded, flashing his dimples. Bringing them up to her nose to smell them, she inhaled deeply. "They are lovely, Emmett, Thank you."

I punched him in the arm as he stuck his hand out to shake mine. "Hey asshole, you're going to make me look bad!" Emmett laughed his big belly laugh and dropped into the seat next to the bed.

"Naw, you've not left her since she was brought in. That beats a few dead flowers any day, no matter how good they smell!" He said with a grin, propping his feet up on the bar of the table where Bella laid her roses. "I just came by to check on how you're doing, Sweetness. You look pretty good."

"Thanks, Em. The docs say that I can go home today. Or, rather, to Edward's." She smiled at me. "I'm gonna stay in California for a few days."

Emmett slapped his huge hand on his knee. "Hot damn. I'm glad. It was getting old watching Eddie mope around here like someone had pissed in his last bowl of Cherrios." He said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes at him as Bella laughed.

"Oh yeah.. I was going to tell you that I went by and picked up our stuff from the venue today," Emmett went on to say. "Eric was cool about it all. I just called him and he met me down there. It's all back at my place."

"Good deal. Thanks for taking care of that." I held up my closed fist and he bumped knuckles with me.

"No worries. You know you can always count on me."

"Yes I do."

There was another knock on the door, and then as Bella called for them to enter, Jasper's grinning face made an appearance in the room.

"I'm back."

"No shit?" I chuckled. Jasper cackled and sauntered on in, pulling up the other spare chair and sitting down, making himself at home.

"Oh, by the way, the nurse said for me to tell you that she would be by with the discharge papers for you to sign here in a new minutes, since your entourage was all here to escort you home." He laughed at the look of bewilderment on her face. "How does it feel to be a rock star?"

It took her a moment, but she finally smiled. "Different, that is for sure!" Bella snickered back at him, finally getting the joke.

A few moments later, true to her word, the nurse came in with a handful of papers for her to sign, followed by a young male orderly pushing a wheelchair. Finished with signing the papers, Bella handed them back as the nurse removed the IV from her hand and slapped on a cotton ball and tape. The orderly pushed the chair closer, evidently intent on helping her into it when she was done with the nurse. His eyes got the size of dinner plates as Emmett rose from his chair, all six foot four inches of him, and towered over him with a growl. Jasper covered his mouth to hide a grin as the scrawny orderly scrambled backwards away from us and stopped a safe distance away with his mouth hanging open. Even the nurse was chortling.

"Don't even think about it, chipmunk. No one is taking that girl out of this hospital but me." Emmett snarled at him, causing the poor guy to gape like a fish, nod once, and shoot out of the open door.

"Good Lord Emmett," Bella was in a fit of giggles as she scooted to the edge of the bed to hang her legs over. "Do you suppose he left rubber from his sneakers behind? If not, he should have!"

"I bet he pissed himself," Jasper threw in, laughing along with her, shaking his head.

"Serves him right,"Emmett said as he smoothly scooped Bella up and set her gently in the wheelchair. I handed her the bag of her belongings that had been given to me by the nurse. "He should have known better than to get anywhere near you with me around!"

"Alright, Emmett, you big bully," I laughed and bowed at the waist, waving towards the door with all the flourish of a professional butler. "By all means...after you!"

**Thanks again, as always, for taking the time to read my little story. **

**Bella took the news pretty well, I thought. And what about Jasper? Looks like he might be developing a personality after all! **

**Get updates and visit with me on Twitter at aequusnoxdiem**!


	15. Chapter 15 Deep Discussion

Our little entourage quickly made its way to my house in Beverly Hills. Jasper pulled up in the driveway and shut off his car, which he'd brought to the hospital instead of his truck in anticipation of Bella going home today. Glancing back at me in the rear view mirror where I sat with my arm around Bella, he grinned like an idiot and winked. I winked back and shook my head, looking over at Bella and made no move to get out of the car. She looked at Jasper and then back at me, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"What are we waiting on, Edward?" She looked out the windshield at my home and back to me again. "Isn't this your house?" I nodded. "Then why are we still sitting in the car?"

"Trust me, it's easier this way, sweetheart." Jasper answered for me from the front seat, twisting around to grin at her. Then he popped the automatic door unlock.

Instantly, the rear door next to Bella opened, and two big arms reached in to scoop Bella effortlessly out of the seat. Bella squeaked in surprise and then giggled as she was cradled securely against the broad expanse of Emmett's chest. As Jasper and I climbed out of the car chuckling, Emmett inclined his head towards my front door, flashing his dimples in a big smile.

"After you, Eddie."

"But of course!" I laughed back at him and as a group we walked up to my front door.

Jasper and Emmett decided to stay for lunch, so we called and had pizza delivered. As we sat around my living room, eating pizza, drinking beer and laughing, I couldn't help but feel that this was exactly the way my life should be; hanging out with my best friends and the woman that I loved more than my own life in the house that my hard work had bought, just enjoying the moment.

Bella was so beautiful, her brown eyes sparkling, the thick waves of her brunette hair falling down in heavy waves around her shoulders as she threw back her head and laughed at something silly that Emmett said. They were regaling her with stories of life of the road and even though a few of them made me blush with shame, I couldn't help but laugh along with them.

After a particularly embarrassing story of my getting entirely too drunk at a club after a show one night in Florida and hitting on a woman who ended up being a man, Bella laughed until the tears came, and I had to say something.

"Hey, you guys!" I growled at Jasper, who was holding onto his stomach and moaning about laughing too much. "Whatever happened to the old code? You know.. what happens on the road _stays_ on the road!"

Emmett wiped his own tears away with the back of his hand and snorted, trying to catch his breath. "Oh sure, Eddie. The Code Of The Road still exists. Just not for _you_!"

Muttering under my breath about what a sorry group of friends I had, I got up to refresh Bella's drink. The sparkle in her eye as she thanked me took my breath away. For a moment, I couldn't stop staring at her.. still in disbelief that after all that had happened the last few days, that she was really here in my home.

Or, maybe it was more than a moment, considering that Emmett cleared his throat and started chuckling. Unlocking her eyes from mine, Bella glanced at Em and blushed a very becoming shade of red and smiled at him. I couldn't help but laugh a little also.

Jasper startled everyone by laughing a big belly laugh and standing up, clapping Em on the shoulder. "I think it's time we leave the two lovebirds alone. They have some serious catching up to do." he winked slyly. "_If_ you know what I mean."

"Shut up, Jasper, you ass." I growled.. laughter still in my voice. I reached out and shook hands with both him and Emmett as they headed for the door. "Just get out of here. I'll call ya tomorrow."

Emmett saluted as he shut the door solidly behind himself. I shook my head and turned around to look at Bella. Beautiful Bella who was sitting on my couch, staring at me with shining eyes and a soft smile on her lips.

Suddenly nervous, I shoved my hands in my pockets and broke the eye contact to wander around the room. My mind was whirling, wondering what I should do now. I didn't want to push her into anything that she wasn't ready for, both emotionally and physically, but more than anything in the world, I wanted to whisk her off her feet, take her upstairs, and make love to her until the sun came up the next morning.

Everyday for the rest of our lives.

I'd lived for two months without her. I didn't ever want to experience that again.

"What's on your mind, Edward?" Bella's low pitched, sexy voice came from right behind me, startling me out of my daydreaming. I flinched as I felt her hand land gently on my arm. I hadn't heard her come up behind me. "Talk to me."

"I'm not sure that you want to hear what was on my mind."

She dropped her hand from my arm and shrugged. "Try me."

I took a deep breath and turned around to meet her eyes. Bella was smiling quietly, a knowing look on her face. It gave me the courage to be honest with her.

"OK. What I would really like to do is sweep you up in my arms, take you up those stairs over there," I pointed and waited and as she turned to glance at the spiral staircase on the opposite side of the room and then looked back at me. "...and spend the rest of the night making love to you."

Bella made a deliberate show of slowly turning and looking at the staircase again, and then back to me. A deliciously evil smile slowly lit up her gorgeous face and she winked at me. That certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

"Well.." She drawled slowly, her Tennessee accent suddenly very pronounced, "What are you waiting for?"

For a split second, all I could do was stand there and blink stupidly. Then, as she squealed with laughter, I did exactly what I'd been wanting to do... I bent over, swept her up into my arms and practically ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, slamming the door behind us.

Much, much later, as the sun was coming up, Bella was snuggled beside me in a tangle of sheets, sleeping soundly in my king sized bed. Her head was on my chest, one arm around my waist, her leg thrown across mine, I looked down at her, hugging her against me, I sighed in complete contentment. And I was content. I never knew exactly how empty my life was without her, and now that she was here with me, I couldn't imagine living without her.

Then there was the baby to consider.

Baby. I swallowed hard, suddenly twitchy. I was going to be a father.

Was I ready to be a father? Was I ready to give up life on the road?

Just having Bella with me, I would have been able to live my life on the road... would have been able to keep up my semi-vagabond life with the band. I wouldn't be able to do that with a baby.

Could I give it up? I took a deep breath and tried to regain my earlier sense of contentment and calm. Shifting my leg out from under the sheet so that my foot was exposed to the chill of the early morning air, I tried to relax by cooling off my suddenly hot body... the heat having nothing nothing to do with the naked body of the sleeping woman wrapped in my arms.

A baby.

A little girl, maybe? A dazzling, dark haired, brown eyed, mirror image of her mother's beauty. A total heartbreaker. Someone who would keep me up all night, biting my fingernails and wearing a hole in the carpet waiting for her to get home from a date with a boy I disapproved of.

What if it was a boy? The wild child, carbon copy of myself... a green eyed, long haired, guitar playing rocker who chased all the girls and drove too fast. The bad boy that all the mothers feared their daughters would bring home for dinner. The one that every father hated.

Holy shit.

As I lay there, mulling over all of the baby personality possibilities in my head, Bella drew in a few slow, deep breathes and stretched, the sheet falling away from her body. I stroked her hair away from her face and smiled as she looked up at me, a sated, sleepy look on her face.

"Hi." She murmured drowsily, yawning. I smiled, running a finger gently along her cheek.

"Hi."

We lay there in silence for several long moments, just holding each other. Finally, Bella stretched again and with a still sleepy grin, slid out of bed and padded completely naked across the room to the bathroom, my eyes locked on her shapely ass the entire way.

As the door closed behind her, I shook my head and huffed, feeling the lower half of my body respond, as it always did, at the sight of Bella's amazing body. We had just spent the rest of the previous day, the entire night, and all the way into the wee hours of the morning rediscovering each other physically... locked in a mesh of steamy, passionate lovemaking. It was hard to believe that I could be ready for more, but as Bella stepped out of the bathroom in all her naked glory, the hardness that was pressing against my stomach was proof that at least parts of me were.

Bella walked up to the bed, a bemused expression on her timeless features, and I noticed that her right hand was resting lightly on her still flat lower stomach. Rubbing it in a slow, circular motion, I knew that she was thinking probably the same things that I had been mulling over before she woke up, and that made the reality of it all even more real.

Quicker than shit, the erection that had been slapping my stomach two seconds before, basically standing up and waving at me, drained away faster than a beer keg at a frat party.

"Edward," Bella whispered as she perched on the bed next to me, a faraway look on her face. "Do you want to be a papa?" Her hand slowly circled her navel as she gazed out the window.

"I wasn't expecting to be," I said in all honesty. "That is the last thing that would have ever crossed my mind." I rubbed my face and raked my hand through my hair, ruffling it up from where it had been pressed flat from the few hours of sleep I'd had, feeling mildy uncomfortable for the first time since Bella had come into my home. Last night had been glorious, but there had been no time to talk. Now was the time to try and figure out what we wanted in the future.

Bella nodded."Yeah. Me either." Suddenly she chuckled. "Imagine my surprise! Waking up in the hospital pregnant!" Sobering suddenly, she turned and looked at me, her face all seriousness. "I want this baby."

This came as no surprise to me. For some reason, I knew she would want to keep the baby. I nodded silently, knowing in my heart that she would be an amazing mother. Reaching out, I took her hand in mine and squeezed, showing her without words that I was there with her. I felt the tension drain from her through the fingers that were wrapped in mine, and I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles.

"Did you think that I wouldn't want you to keep our baby, Bella?"

She took a deep breath, unable to look at me for the first time. "I wasn't sure. You are the rock star after all. Living your life on the road." Finally meeting my eyes with hers she smiled. "I love that you said 'our' baby."

I smiled back at her. "Well, she is our baby."

Bella laughed, obviously delighted with my easy going acceptance of our new reality. "She?"

I nodded, chuckling. "Yes! I can't imagine a little me running around, terrorizing the world. Holy shit. It would never be the same!" Bella busted out laughing, scooting back and curling up against my side, laying her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and found my hands resting gently on her stomach, the wonder of being a father hitting me again as I softly stroked the soft skin of her still flat abdomen.

"We have a lot of things to work out still," Bella said quietly. I nodded again, even though she couldn't see the motion and I rested my chin on the top of her dark head. Her fingers interlaced with mine as they lay on her belly where our child grew within her.

"Yes we do. But somehow, we'll make it work."

* * *

><p><strong>Seems like everything is going pretty good so far, wouldn't you say? I wonder where they will end up - California, or Nashville?<strong>

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Life gets in the way sometimes, and honestly, for awhile, I had lost my desire to continue. Only those of you who have read and reviewed and seem to enjoy it have kept me pushing to create a story worth your time when there are so many others out there you could be reading instead. **

**Many, MANY thanks to those of you who have put me and my story on alerts and in your favorites, and for hanging in there with me during this creative process as it unfolds. You all are AMAZING. **


	16. Chapter 16 Big Decisions

Over the next several days, Bella and I talked, loved, and made future plans. I took Bella back to the hospital for a checkup, and she was pronounced fit to travel as needed, and told that she was recovering nicely. It was still early yet, but there didn't look to be any lingering effects on her from being concussed, and the docs were confident that there should be no ill effects to our unborn baby.

Emmett and Jasper popped in and out on occasion, spending either lunches or dinners with us, and I was so glad that my two best friends were so taken with the woman that I loved. It just made my life that much more complete.

We still hadn't told them about our baby, and I was not looking forward to their disappointment when they heard the news. I had made the decision to leave the band, and I knew that it wasn't going to set well with them. Surprisingly, it wasn't a difficult decision for me to make. I realized that I was tired of touring, and tired of being on the road all of the time and unable to settle down. I had been leaning in that direction the night I met Bella in that smoke filled club, and this new development just sealed the deal.

As far as I was concerned, Bella and our new family would always and forever come first from here on out. She had a job she had to get back to, and I had a lot of loose ends here in California that I had to tie up before I could leave and get to Nashville to be with her.

I figured that it wouldn't take more than a few weeks to hire a real estate agent to sell my home, and I could hire professional movers to pack up the house and ship it all to Nashville. I wasn't planning on living in California again, so there was no reason to keep the house. I had plenty of cash in the bank, so I wasn't worried about that. We would have more than enough to live on, at least until I could find a job somewhere. At least my rock star status both here and abroad had been good for something.

Bella was going to go on back to Nashville ahead of me and start looking for a house. I told her that any house in any area would be fine with me.. as long as it had plenty of space and was in a safe area for the baby to grow up in. I would join her as soon as I was able to. But first, I needed to talk to Emmett and Jasper.. and that needed to be done without her.

As soon as I saw Bella safely on her plane back home and walked back to get into my car, I sat there for a moment in unhappy indecision. I didn't have a choice; I needed to tell them that I was leaving the band and that reason I was doing so was because I was going to be a father. I just really wasn't sure how they would react to this particular little bomb I was getting ready to drop on them.

Coming to grips with the reality of what I needed to do, I pulled my cell phone out of my coat pocket and dialed up Emmett's number. I sat there tapping my foot, hoping he would answer the phone so that I could get this over with.

Just as I was getting worried that I would have to leave a message and postpone breaking the news, Emmett's deep voice answered.

"Hey Eddie. Talk to ya boy."

"Hey Em, what're you up to tonight? Are you free, by any chance? We need to get together and talk about some changes in the band."

"I'm good. Want me to call up Jazz and get him in on it?"

"Yeah. This concerns him too. Tell him that you guys need to be at my house in two hours," I instructed.

"Sure thing, Eddie. What's doing? You sound a little stressed? Is Bella OK?" The concern in his voice for her warmed my heart. I had a feeling that out of the two of them, Emmett would be the one to understand why I was doing what I was doing.

"Yeah, she's fine. I just put her on the plane back to Nashville. In fact, I'm still at the airport. Just meet me at my house, like I said, OK?" Emmett confirmed that he would call up Jasper and we said our goodbyes. But, I had one more parting request.

"Oh, Hey Emmett," I said before he could hang up.

"Yeah?"

"Bring lots of beer."

Lost in thought, I was staring out the window watching the birds fighting over the seeds in the feeder hanging from the big old Oak tree in my backyard. Holy shit, those Jay birds were mean little bastards.

A quick knock on the front door startled me into turning away from the window and the nasty little birds, and was followed closely by Emmett's deep baritone voice announcing his presence.

I took a deep breathe. Here we go.

"Yo, Eddie... where are you at, bro?"

"I'm in the den." I hollered back.

"I'm going to put the extra beer in the fridge." Emmett yelled back.

"Alright."

I heard him rattling around in the kitchen, the fridge door opened and closed, and then he appeared in the den few moments later, with Jasper, who had apparently just arrived, trailing after him.

"Hola, Eddie." Jasper saluted me with his bottle and handed me one. I popped the top, tossed the cap on the coffee table, and waited for them to get comfortable.

Emmett set the remaining six-pack on the coffee table next to my bottle cap, they plopped down on my sectional in their favorite spots; Jasper in the corner where he liked to sprawl out, Em on the corner where he popped out the recliner.

Jasper took a pull off his beer and cocked his head, squinting his eyes as he looked at me. I had a hard time looking back at him. He frowned.

"OK, E. What's up? You have this strange look on your face. And honestly, I don't like it."

Emmett nodded, also frowning. "Yeah, you're starting to stress out your best friends. Spill it."

I took yet another deep breath and felt strangely like I was getting ready to dive into a swimming pool. A bottomless one. Setting my nearly empty beer on the coffee table, I steeled my resolve and wiped my hands on my jeans nervously.

Announcing it in a rush so that they wouldn't have time to interrupt me, I sputtered out, "Bella's pregnant. I'm going to be a father." and then I pressed my lips shut and braced for the impact.

Silence.

Complete silence.

I believe the term, 'frozen in shock' applied well here. It didn't look like either of them were even breathing. I looked from one to the other of them, patiently waiting for them to defrost. Emmett actually stopped with his beer in front of his mouth, and I'm not sure he'd taken a drink of it before he slowly lowered it back down, his blue eyes glued on me, unblinking.

Jasper's eyebrows had gone up at my announcement, and hadn't dropped back down yet. His eyeballs were bugged out of his head, and his mouth was hanging open.. but he had yet to make a sound. The knuckles on his hand that held the bottle were white. I was tempted to check for a pulse on both of them.

I'd thrown the grenade out there, now I just needed to wait for the explosion. When it came, it was so not what I was expecting.

Emmett launched himself off the couch so fast that I literally flinched backwards, nearly tripping over an ottoman in my haste to get away from him. He hurdled the coffee table and grabbed me up in a bear hug so tight that I couldn't breathe. The next thing I knew, I was lifted off the ground and swung from side to side like a ragdoll being tossed around by an excited child.

"Holy shit! Eddie! That's freakin' awesome, man!" He crowed, still squeezing me. I gasped and struggled for breath. "When did you find this out? Are you excited? What the hell do you know about that!"

I could feel my face getting hot from the blood gathering there. I tried to push away from him, and got nowhere. Finally, desperate for air, I pinched him right where his arm met his torso, and he dropped me instantly, howling.

"Ow! Dammit, what did you do that for!" He slapped his other hand on the spot where I'd tweaked him, trying to twist around to look at it. I gagged, still trying to take in enough oxygen to stop my head from spinning.

"Couldn't... breathe... you... idiot!" I choked out when I'd managed to get enough of a breath to do so. Grinning apologetically, he reached a hand out to help me up. I stood up and stayed in place for a moment, swaying back and forth, waiting for the room to quit lurching from side to side.

"Sorry man. I guess I just got excited." He chuckled unashamedly. "Wow. What do you know? I'm going to be an uncle!" He looked at me, suddenly concerned. "I get to be an uncle, right?"

I had to chuckle. "I don't think Bella would have it any other way, you big monster!"

It took me a moment, but I finally realized that Jasper hadn't said anything. In fact, he still hadn't moved. As Emmett grabbed a freshie out of the six-pack on the table and sat back down, I met Jasper's still frozen gaze.

"So, we know how Em feels about it," I said, very matter of factly. "How do you feel, Jazz? You want to be an uncle as well?"

For a long moment, Jasper didn't say anything. He just looked at me in silence.. his face unreadable. Then he thawed out a bit, slowly sat forward and set his bottle on the table. Then he sat back, crossing his leg up so that his ankle rested on the opposite knee and tucked his hands under his armpits, but never broke eye contact with me. I frowned, recognizing this body language in him. He wasn't happy, and was pulling himself out of the situation. Building a physical wall with his limbs around himself in protection. I waited him out, knowing he would tell me what he thought when he was good and ready.

Finally, he squinted at me and drew a long breath and let it out slowly. I sat on the ottoman I had nearly tripped over earlier and kept silent.

"You're quitting... aren't you." It was spoken as a statement, not a question.

Apparently, this was not something that had crossed Emmett's mind until now, because out of the corner of my eye I saw his head jerk around and he stared at me, wide eyed.

"Eddie?" Em questioned. "Are you?

"Under the circumstances, Em, Jazz... yes, I am." I shrugged, looking back at forth at them as I spoke. "I love Bella, and I have to do right by her. We want this baby. I'm moving to Nashville as soon as I can. She is already looking for a house for us."

More silence.

I sighed. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less than this, really. But I was hoping they would understand that it was something I just had to do. Everyone had to grow up sometime. Now was my time. To give them time to mull it over and myself something to do, I leaned forward and picked up a new beer from the pack and took a long drink of it.

I'm not sure how long we sat there in silence this time, just drinking our beer, but at one point, Emmett got up and went to the kitchen and got a fresh sixer out of the fridge and set it on the table. We all grabbed one, popped the tops, and went back to the privacy of own thoughts.

After awhile, I looked up at Emmett to see him looking at Jasper. I watched them as they seemed to be communicating without saying anything, and I can admit.. it freaked me out a little bit. In a moment or two, Jasper nodded slightly and then looked at me. They both leaned forward and set their now empty bottles on the table and then sat back again. Raising one eyebrow, I leaned forward and set my empty bottle on the table and then sat back again, telling myself I was ready to hear whatever it was that they had to say to me. In my heart, I knew I was doing the right thing.

"OK, Edward," Jazz stated in an ominous voice. "If that is the way you want it... then we'll just have to move with you."

I blinked stupidly. Blinked again.

_Wait... what? What did he just say?_

He shrugged. "We thought something like this might happen eventually, with you being so into Bella, so we talked it over, and that's what we decided to do if it came to that."

Emmett was nodding like a bobble-headed dog on a dashboard. "Yeah. We don't have anything going on here. No real women, no immediate family.. why not move to Music City and start over?" Emmett qualified. "Then we can keep the band together too!"

Well, alright then. I was ready to hear whatever it was that they had to say to me... but that.


	17. Chapter 17 Moving Day Madness

This chapter is being told from Bella's point of view.

* * *

><p>Rubbing my hand across my sweaty forehead, I sat back on my heels and looked at the progress I'd made. It had taken me the better part of a month, but I finally felt like I was making some headway in packing up my apartment. There were boxes piled all around me, and I was surprised as I looked around that I had managed to gather up so much... shit. Really? Did one person truly need all of this stuff?<p>

Shaking my head and chuckling ruefully, I checked my watch. Ten in the morning. Edward's flight was supposed to arrive in a little over an hour, and I'd been instructed not to pick him up from the airport... he wanted to rent a car and drive to the apartment himself. I wasn't exactly sure what he was planning, but I felt like it was important to let him find his way in this. Our last encounter here in my hometown didn't end well, so I was looking forward to making a fresh, and hopefully very positive, new start. If him showing his independance right off the bat was important to him, then it was important to me as well.

Standing up and brushing myself off, even though I really didn't need to, I was on my way to the kitchen for a drink of ice water when there was a knock at my door. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, I paused and glanced at my watch again. I wasn't expecting anyone today except Edward.. and unless he took an earlier flight to surprise me, there was simply no way that he could be here already.

Walking on to the front door, I pushed my hair again off of my forehead, wiped my hands on my ripped blue jeans and proceeded to do something that I would never usually do - I unlocked and opened the door without looking through the peephole first.

I was stunned when I was forcefully knocked backwards by the door as it slammed up against me. Landing hard on my ass with my legs stretched out in front of me, I blinked stupidly for several seconds up at the huge male form looming over me before it dawned on me what had just happened.

Jake. Jake busted through my door.

"Hello Bella." Jake growled in a soft voice full of deadly menace. Taking a deep breath to collect my thoughts and calm my nerves, I vowed not to show him any fear and looked him dead in the eye. I struggled to keep the tone of my voice even and slightly bored.. like his knocking me on my ass was no big thing.

"Jake."

Jake glanced around the apartment, putting his hands on his hips. "Looks like you're moving."

"Way to go, Captain Obvious." I snorted, shifting my legs underneath myself to try and get to my feet. "Nice of you to notice. Didn't take you as long to figure that out as I figured it would." Jake stepped in front of me, blocking my ability to stand. "Would you mind getting the hell out of my way?"

Jake didn't move, continuing to loom over me, still looking around my disheveled apartment. "Where's your boyfriend?" I wondered if he had thought this whole time that Edward lived with me. I glanced towards the door, suddenly realizing that he hadn't shut it completely behind him when he'd busted through - it was still hanging open about an inch. An idea started to form in my head as I returned my furious glare to his face.

_Just keep him talking, Bella._ I told myself as the idea took root in my mind and grew in design. _That should be an easy enough way to keep him distracted._

"If you're talking about Edward, Jake, he is in Los Angeles, last I heard." I shoved his foot with my foot and toppled him off balance enough that he had to step back, and I was able to climb to my feet. Looking up at him, I narrowed my eyes and frowned. "And, if you will permit me in asking, what the hell are you doing here?" Jake glanced down at me from his towering height, raising his eyebrows in questionable surprise. "You know you damn near killed me in LA?"

Jake shook his head, some of his early aggravation draining away once he realized that Edward obviously wasn't in the apartment. "I wasn't trying to hurt you! I just wanted you to go outside and talk to me!" Starting again to get visibly agitated, he began to pace around my apartment, dodging boxes as he went. "It's your fault you got hurt."

"You asshole." I growled, causing Jake to break stride and stop to look at me. "That is the biggest cop-out in the whole world. I never _asked _for you to hurt me, you son of a bitch."

Jake frowned and shook his head, resuming his trek around the livingroom. "You made me do it when you tried to pull away from me. If you would have just gone outside and talked to me, everything would have been fine."

"Yeah," I snarled back at him, unable to believe his gall, and knowing that it shouldn't surprise me. He'd really turned into a jerk the last few years. "That's what _all _abusers say."

He stopped again and whirled around to look at me, shock on his face. "I'm not an abuser."

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Whatever, Jake. You put your hands on me, and I got hurt as a result of it. In my eyes, that makes you an abuser." He stayed silent and shook his head, restarting his rambling walk through the boxes that littered my living room.

I waited until his forward motion took him closer to the window before edging closer to the open front door. There was a side table that I usually set my car keys on next to the door. That table was currently hiding my Glock in the drawer. I was hoping to be able to get it without drawing his attention. With what happened in LA, the previous threats, and the current emotional state he was in, I didn't want to take any chances being unarmed around him right now. I needed to be able to protect myself... and my unborn baby.

There was one thing about Jake that I knew for sure. If he didn't have respect for anything or anyone else, Jake had it for me when I had my gun in my hand. I was praying that I'd be able to get to the table, grab the gun, and at least make it out the door before he realized what I'd done. Then I'd have protection and the chance to make a run for it.

I hoped so, anyways.

For several minutes, Jake paced without saying a word, and I stood my ground, arms crossed over my chest and watched him, inching closer to the door when I could. Figuring that the best thing to do to continue to keep him distracted, I tried to get him talking.

"Well, since you have come bursting into my home... uninvited, I might add... you might as well talk to me." I prompted, irritated. "You wanted to talk in LA. So talk now."

Jake stopped for a moment and turned his dark brown eyes on me, considering. I waited patiently, knowing that there wasn't much else I could do as long as he was staring at me. Finally, after many long moments, he shrugged.

"I want you back." He said, the weak tone of his voice betraying his insecurity about telling me truly what he was feeling. For a split second, I almost felt sorry for him.

Almost... but not quite..

"Not gonna happen, Jake." I stated firmly. "There has been too much water under that bridge.. too much shit that has happened since I caught you in bed with Alice for me to want to travel back down that path again."

"But I've tried and tried to tell you that I was sorry for that!" He threw up his hands and let them fall limply to his sides in frustration. "It was a mistake. Alice and I haven't spoken since. I have no desire to go back there again. I never meant to hurt you in California. That was an accident. All I wanted to do is talk to you. There hasn't been anyone since you. You're all that I want!"

I narrowed my eyes and him and shook my head. "Then you should have thought about that then.. and not now. No, Jake. Just... no." I shrugged. "Never again."

Jake stared at me for a moment longer, his brow furrowing as his words sank in, and then he shook his dark head and resumed his pacing.. .back and forth in front of my front windows. The line he was walking, as long as he stayed on it, would keep him far enough from me that if I waited until he hit the furthest end of his track and I got close enough to make a grab for my gun, I could have it in my hands and aimed at him before he could turn around and head back my direction. I slowly inched a step closer. And one more. Almost there.

Then he ruined it.

On his furthest path, right when he should have kept going past the sofa to the bookcase against the wall, Jake turned and headed my direction, on a direct line towards me.

Dammit.

I watched him come towards me, not overly upset, and not extremely worried that he would do anything stupid. His body language was all about the realization that it truly was over between us, and I hoped that meant that this would be over and he would just leave. I really didn't want him here when Edward showed up. That, would be a disaster. He was silent as he padded towards me, his eyes on the ground. I kept an eye on him, however, not trusting him for a second.

Turns out, that was a good plan.

When he got close to me, he totally surprised me by grabbing my arm, and pulling me roughly into his arms. Stunned for a second, I held still, not sure what he was up to. Glaring up at him, I saw the hatred burning in his eyes that he'd hidden from me on his walk up to me, and I knew in that instant that I was in trouble.

"I'll make you remember what it was like between us, Bella." He murmured so softly I could barely make out the words. "You'll never want to leave me again."

Grinding his hips against me, through his jeans, I felt his arousal pressing against my thigh, and it finally dawned on me what he had in mind.

"No Jake," I spat out at him, "This is not going to happen. So let me go now!" I growled at him, struggling to get my arms free. It was a lost cause. He was so much bigger and stronger than I was. Always had been.

With one of his huge hands, he captured both of my wrists and with his other arm, he encircled my waist and picked me up off my feet. I immediately began to kick at him, catching him several times in the shins and knees with my toes, but he held me so close, and was so far gone mentally that it didn't make any difference. Carrying me over to the sofa, he laid me down and put his body weight on top of me to hold me still, one massive, muscular leg pushing my knees apart. With his free hand, he began to unbutton my jeans.

When I struggled against him, and tried to cry out, he leaned down and ground his mouth on mine, his tongue forcing my lips apart and into my mouth. I felt his hot breath in my face, his tongue in my mouth and I tried to bite him, but he pulled away at the last second, laughing.

"There's my Bella," he laughed, enjoying himself. "Full of piss and vinegar, as always."

"I'm not you're Bella, Jake." I snarled at him, trying to twist my body away from his hand as it worked it's way into my now unbuttoned jeans. "Quite being an asshole and let me up! This isn't going to happen!"

I felt sick and tried to swallow down the bile that rose into my throat when his fingers, slid into the waistband of my panties, and started to glide to that area that I never wanted him to touch anymore.

He chuckled, and low and threatening sound as he pushed his fingers even lower, brushing at the top of my girlscaping. "Oh.. I think it is."

As I gathered my breath to scream as loud as I possibly could, a familiar voice full of deadly menace answered Jake before I could even open my mouth.

"Don't fucking count on it, dickhead."

And then there was a loud explosion.

Feathers from my down filled couch pillow flew everywhere.

And then there was blood. A lot of blood. Everywhere.

Jake's entire body jerked, and he screamed abruptly, he rolling off of me to the floor, grabbing at his left shoulder with the hand that had been attempting to invade my body in the most horribly intimate way. Sitting up quickly, I whipped my head around to where the voice had come from.

Edward was there, in my doorway, the drawer to the side table by the door hanging open, my Glock in his steady hands, aimed at Jake and more than ready to fire again if he so much as looked my direction.

"Call 9-1-1." Edward instructed me, his eyes flicking to me before locking again on Jake, his voice a deadly quiet growl. "Tell them what happened, everything that happened, and have them get some EMT's out here quick.. before I'm tempted to shoot him again, just for the Goddamn hell of it." Then he smiled at Jake. "You're lucky it was me and not Emmett that showed up at the door, Jake. He'd have aimed for your head. And hit it."

Jake, wisely for once in his life, kept silent.

On shaky legs, I stood up and buttoned up my jeans, and brushed my hair out of my face. Running to the counter, I picked up my cell phone and called the police as my neighbors began poking their heads in my door, asking if I was alright, and what happened. I assured them that everything was under control, and concentrated on talking to the operator when she came on the line.

Jake sat where he was, his eyes on the gun pointed at him, his face a mask of pain as he held pressure on the gaping wound in his shoulder, bright red blood streaming out over his fingers.

Hanging up with the operator, I turned to Edward, who hadn't relaxed one bit throughout all of this, and brushed my hand along the side of his cheek. He smiled smiled grimly, but didn't take his eyes off Jake.

"I had no idea that you could shoot like that!" I told him, my voice full of admiration. He flicked his eyes over to mine for a moment, and a real smile replaced the showing of teeth he'd offered me earlier and his blue eyes twinkled.

"After what happened at the bar here in Nashville, I taught myself while we were broken up, and continued to practice once we got back together. Couldn't have my girlfriend being better than me at something, now could I?" He winked.

As the sounds of sirens filled the air, I chuckled.

"Oh no. We couldn't have that."

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><p><strong>Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Real life has seriously been in my face these last several months! I only have about one chapter to go, and then an epilogue, so hang in there. I haven't abandoned you! I promise I will finish the story. <strong>

**For all of you that have put me on favorites and alerts and those of who've left me such wonderful reviews, Thank you.. from the bottom of my heart. It means so much.**


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